Overview
Ben Stiller jumps back into a eerily familiar role in Along Came Polly. You get a immediate sense of familiarity with his latest, and with the upcoming Starsky and Hutch it doesn’t appear that he’ll go the route of Ashton Kutcher and attempt anything even half serious in the near future…but maybe that isn’t a bad thing…

Reuben Feffer calculates risk every day. Feffer is an insurance risk assessor who has his whole life planned out before him. Even though he makes calculated decisions every single day, he could not save himself from being kicked to the curb by his new bride during their honeymoon as she ran off with her hunky scuba instructor. Down on his luck, Reuben just so happens to bump into childhood friend Polly Prince, who is his polar opposite…but we know what they say about opposites. Reuben quickly finds himself in unfamiliar territory and shocks himself to find that he enjoys every minute of it, whether he is doing the Salsa or playing racquetball with a Fortune 50 bigwig.

In many instances, it’s laugh out loud funny, but in others you’re looking for some more depth to the comedy. If you look to hard for it, you’ll be disappointed. Just remember it’s a Stiller comedy and you’ll be alright.
Review

We’ve seen Along Came Polly or a variation of it at least a dozen times, and probably half of those were movies staring Ben Stiller. Meet the Parents, There’s Something About Mary, and Duplex all center around a guy that gets in over his head and will go to the point of no return in order to get himself out of it. If you enjoyed those movies you’ll fall in love with Along Came Polly right from the beginning; however, if you aren’t into fart jokes and other bathroom humor, go see Miracle. Any movie staring Ben Stiller falls into the genre of ‘stupid laugh out loud funny comedies’. Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider help fill this genre as well. Chances are if you like just about any movie that these 3 guys star in, you’re good to go.

Reuben Feffer is an insurance risk assessor who has the dubious task of trying to get one of the world’s wealthiest business tycoons to calm down and give up activities such as base jumping and shark feeding-frenzy scuba diving in order to gain him as a client. Reuben has his work cut out for him as he attempts to assess the risk factors of Leland Van Lew and be able to insure him. As Reuben works on his client, he gets married and runs off to St. Barts for his honeymoon. Before long (the first day), Reuben’s new bride is running off with her scuba instructor, leaving Reuben without a life plan. He pores himself into his job, and while trying to unwind one night he bumps into childhood friend Polly Prince he hasn’t seen in years. Although her risk factor appears to be fairly high, Reuben takes a chance on Polly and hilarity ensues.

There are plenty of highs and an equal number of lows, but if you are looking for a totally non-serious comedy, this one is has a decent package and is worth the risk.

Acting
Ben Stiller plays the lead role of Reuben Feffer, an almost uberparanoid insurance risk assessor who forces himself to calculate risk in every little thing he does. As I said before, this role mirrors his roles in other films almost to a ‘T’. Reuben could be the brother of Gaylord Focker (Meet the Parents), Alex Rose (Duplex), Ted Stroehmann (There’s Something About Mary), and even the orderly in nursing home in Happy Gilmore. It doesn’t look like Stiller will stray too much from this box-office hording role as he is signed on to do a sequel for Meet the Parents called Meet the Fockers, and Starsky and Hutch. In his case, that may be for the better. Ashton Kutcher seems to have made the transition, but there aren’t many people that think Stiller could or even should give more serious acting a shot. Personally, I like Stiller for who he is and for what he has done, whether it’s been his own TV show or in his box-office comedic hits.

Jennifer Aniston takes on the role of Polly Prince, Reuben’s childhood friend that he lost touch with. She’s very into living on the edge and just living life and is a great contrast to Reuben. The chemistry between Stiller and Aniston seems a bit forced at time, but that might be due to them being polar opposites and it could be written like that. Regardless, it is still a nice fit and it’s good to see Aniston back on the big screen. In many ways, her role is similar to her roles in Office Space and Bruce Almighty, and you can definitely see the similarities in the characters. She seems clueless at sometimes, but she has moments where she shines. Her little ferret acts as a great prop and gets a bunch of laughs. She does seem to struggle, but that might be in the writing department. Movies may not be her forte, but Friends is nearing the end and it’s a good thing that she has made the transition to movies and is making a go out of it. I can easily see her in more serious roles, and it will be interesting to see if she can pull those off.

When most people look at the acting of a movie they centralize on the leading actor and actress. Although Stiller’s and Aniston’s acting are what the movie focuses on, the kicker is actually the supporting roles. Without them, this wouldn’t have been a hit, and maybe that is the case with most movies, but these performances sold me on it.

One performance that had me rolling was Hank Azaria as he played Claude, the scuba instructor who Reuben’s wife runs off with. His thick St. Barts / Caribbean accent is too damn funny and sometimes it’s almost too thick, but that adds to the hilarity. He has such a range with his voice and his accents its almost absurd. Hank is most famous for his Simpson’s voices. Just a few he does are Apu, Moe, the Comic Book Guy, Cletus, Professor Frink, and Chief Wiggum. Having the talent to be able to switch between the various voices he does is definitely a strength and is what made him the easy choice for this role. I don’t want to go too much into detail about his role as Claude because he isn’t in it much and I wouldn’t want to spoil it.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is just one of the many fantastic roles that were written for this story. He plays the role of Sandy Lyle, a former child actor who has been friends with Reuben since they were little. Hoffman plays it perfectly, becoming the egocentric and narcissistic former child actor who thinks the universe revolves around him because of one movie. He pushes the envelope constantly, making you laugh in every scene he is in because he sort of gives you the sense that you know him, or that you know someone who is like him. The role is a bit unfamiliar for Hoffman, far removed from roles that he played in Punch Drunk Love (gag) or The Talented Mr. Ripley (double gag). Although extremely different in nature, it’s a welcome change to his otherwise dark sense of humor.

Stan Indursky is played by Alec Baldwin, and is Reuben’s boss. He is in the movie sparingly but his offhand comments keep you on your toes and wanting more. Even though he isn’t in the movie that much, his few scenes with Stiller are fantastic and definitely show the great chemistry they have with each other.

Directing
Not to take anything away from John Hamburg’s directing, but it really can’t be that difficult to direct movies that focus on making jokes, ad-libbing in many instances, and just having fun…or is it? Regardless, the writing for this romantic comedy is pretty good, probably notching in between Hamburg’s Zoolander and Meet the Parents. We’ve seen almost all of the gags and jokes before, but sometimes rehashing old jokes and repackaging them works. For the most part it sells itself to the audience, who know what they are getting into when they sit down in their chair. For what it’s worth, it’s an enjoyable comedy that is fun to watch with a bunch of friends.

Final Thoughts
Knowing what to expect before I walked in and being realistic, I have to say I was pretty pleased. Not much surprised me though and that was the main reason I have to score it down a bit. There’s Something About Mary had the whole hair gel scene, and people were talking about that for months after the fact. Along Came Polly just didn’t have a scene like that. Overall, it is worth an afternoon matinee or a rental.

HYNDSY Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Planets


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