Themes: Date from Hell, Infidelity, Romantic Betrayal
Main Cast: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing, Alec Baldwin, Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Screenwriter John Hamburg directs his second film (since his 1998 debut Safe Men) with the romantic comedy Along Came Polly. Ben Stiller plays Reuben Feffer, a professional risk assessor who never takes chances in any aspect of his life. When his new bride Lisa (Debra Messing) leaves him for a European scuba instructor named Claude (Hank Azaria), he finally decides to a risk of his own. At a party, he meets free-spirited Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston), whom he remembers from his seventh-grade Model U.N. Unlike the control-freak Reuben, she's spent her life living on the edge. They reluctantly begin a romance and Polly introduces him to a new world of spicy food and suggestive dances. Along Came Polly also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Reuben's washed-up best friend Sandy Lyle and Alec Baldwin as the obnoxious insurance company boss Stan Indursky. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
John Hamburg had previously worked on the screenplays for Zoolander and Meet the Parents before this film, proving that he had the ability to shape material for Ben Stiller. With Along Came Polly, Hamburg graduates to the director's chair as well, and his inexperience behind the camera is noticeable. Although he takes his time and carefully establishes the failed marriage that opens the movie, the body of the film lacks continuity. There are bits of business that seem like they will payoff later but never do, and the scenes fluctuate wildly in their pacing. Although the film fails to work as a whole, there are moments that generate real laughter. Philip Seymour Hoffman uses his potent physicality to get laughs out of both an introductory pratfall and a handful of basketball scenes. In his too few scenes, Alec Baldwin finds the perfect tone as Stiller's boss, combining authority, unctuousness, insincerity, and affection in equal measure. Stiller himself is very comfortable playing this type of character -- for him it is the equivalent of an old pair of sneakers. He's fine, but he does nothing new. Jennifer Aniston could have been interesting, but aside from goading Stiller's character into coming out of his shell, she has almost nothing to play. The film glosses over her emotional issues in order to focus on Stiller's gastrointestinal issues. Along Came Polly lacks inspiration, but for all its faults, it does give the supporting performers enough room to make it better than it could have been. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Jsu Garcia - Javier; Michele Lee - Vivian Feffer; Bob Dishy - Irving Feffer; Suzanne Whang; Amy Hohn - Cheryl; Missi Pyle - Roxanne; James DuMont - Larry; Mitch Silpa - J.C. Superstar Director; Jeffrey Ross; Nathan Dean - Mitch; Christine Barger - Mary Magdalene; Masi Oka - Wonsuk
Credit
Martin Whist - Art Director, Kathleen Chopin - Casting, Joann Fregalette Jansen - Choreography, Anne Fletcher - Choreography, Cindy Evans - Costume Designer, Daniel Silverberg - First Assistant Director, John Hamburg - Director, Alex Daniels - Second Unit Director, Nick Moore - Editor, William Kerr - Editor, Jane Bartelme - Executive Producer, Dan Levine - Executive Producer, Theodore Shapiro - Composer (Music Score), Randall Poster - Musical Direction/Supervision, Andrew Laws - Production Designer, Seamus Mcgarvey - Cinematographer, Danny DeVito - Producer, Michael Shamberg - Producer, Stacey Sher - Producer, Don Diers - Set Designer, Greg Berry - Set Designer, Mary Saisselin - Set Designer, Illusion Arts - Special Effects, Geoffrey Patterson - Sound/Sound Designer, Alex Daniels - Stunts Coordinator, John Hamburg - Screenwriter, Larry Blanford - Second Unit Camera, Greg Curtis - Special Effects Coordinator, Darren King - Supervising Sound Editor, Industrial Light & Magic - Visual Effects
Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller) is an insurance underwriter who, since his job involves analyzing risk for insurance purposes, likes living life in complete safety and free from any unnecessary risk. As the film opens, he is celebrating his wedding to Lisa Kramer (Debra Messing), but promptly catches her having sex on their honeymoon with Claude (Hank Azaria), a French scuba instructor. After he returns he attempts to begin piecing his life back together. One night at the behest of his best friend - and fallen former teen actor - Sandy (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), he goes to an art gallery. There he runs into an extroverted former classmate named Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston). The reunion is cut short, however, due to Sandy having sharted (a contraction of the words "shit" and "fart" - as Sandy explains to Reuben, not knowing what sharted means: "I just farted and shit came out...") and wanting to go home. Reuben decides to ask Polly out which in turn aggravates Sandy, who states that Polly is not as how she was when they were in junior high. At the end of the night he calls Polly but hangs up, she calls back and before he can stop it, his answering machine announces his name. Reuben then detours near Polly's apartment in time to see her walking in. He quickly deflects her inquiry as to whether or not he had hung up on her the previous night, to which he replies that "the phone lines must've gotten crossed or something". Despite this he manages to give her a business card and they make tentative plans to get together.
After Polly rearranges their plans a few times they finally manage to meet up at a Moroccan-style restaurant. Unfortunately for him, Reuben begins to suffer a bout of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (despite Sandy having reminded him of this prior to the date) and begins perspiring heavily. Unable to use the restaurant's bathroom (as it was occupied the entire time), he finally attempts to use Polly's bathroom. He runs into yet another problem here, this time finding that there's no toilet paper. He grabs a towel off of the rack but in the process blocks the toilet. He then tries to use Polly's new - and expensive - loofah in an effort to unplug the toilet. This attempt fails miserably and ends with Reuben's humiliation at Polly catching him in the act (after the toilet has overflowed onto the floor). To compound things, she reveals to him that the towel that he had used was in fact a hand-embroidered gift from her grandmother. Despite all of this Polly agrees to another date, this time at an Indian restaurant where they meet up with Reuben's parents. While at dinner Reuben's mother tells Polly of his failed marriage to Lisa and how she cheated on him during their honeymoon. Polly, touched by this, amends that she will help him to get over Lisa.
Reuben and Polly begin dating, with her introducing him to activities he once wrote off as "too risky" (such as salsa dancing). Meanwhile at work Reuben is attempting to assess Leland Van Lew, an Australian industrialist who enjoys engaging in life threatening stunts (such as swimming with great white sharks) thus also making it harder for anyone to insure him. Sandy is also busy making a documentary about his "life as a star" as well as preparing to perform in a stage revival of Jesus Christ Superstar cast as Judas and convinced that he is the true star of the production.
Reuben runs into a conundrum when he finds himself torn between the free-spirited Polly and Lisa, who has returned and has stated her wish to reconcile their relationship. To solve this issue he enters Polly and Lisa into the Risk Master, a computer insurance program which measures risk in percentages when entered with people's advantages and disadvantages. The computer tells him that, despite his numerous blunders with her, that Polly is the best choice for him due in part to her lifestyle.
Lew invites Reuben to join him on a boating trip and he in turn decides to bring Polly along. During a storm Polly accidentally knocks into Reuben's computer, turning on the Risk Master. She sees he listed all her flaws and has compared her against those of Lisa. In a fit of anger she confronts him with the information, accusing him of using her as a fling while still remaining legally married to Lisa. She punctuates this point by stating that her own father had actually had two separate wives and families, revealing her reason for being afraid of commitment. Reuben attempts to talk her down, but to no avail. She breaks things off with him then and there by telling him that he'd be better off going back to Lisa.
Reuben moves into his new house and talks to Lisa, who wants to see him. While at Sandy's play together they run into a friend of Polly's, who in turn reveals to him that she's leaving town, but he doesn't know why. As they sit down to watch the play Reuben gets a call from his boss Stan to give a final evaluation on Lew's case. As the play's beginning Sandy announces to the audience that he will be playing the lead of the play as well as his own part, prompting the lead actor to pick a fist fight with him right then and there on the stage. Afterwards Reuben's dad breaks his silence from the start of the film and tells Sandy to let go of his past, that life is about enjoying the ride. This has the dual effect of inspiring Reuben, who then tells Lisa he won't take her back because she's a "heartless bitch" for cheating on him. Reuben then convinces Sandy to stand in for him at the final meeting regarding Lew's case so that he can rush to catch Polly before she leaves town. He sees her leaving but is unable to keep up. He wanders back to her apartment where he finds her pet ferret Rodolfo, whose leash had gotten caught in the door. Soon after Polly comes back around the corner in time to see Reuben with Rodolfo. He apologizes to her and tells her that she was risky but worth it. Polly is not yet convinced of his epiphany, so Reuben then buys some nuts from a vendor and drops them on the ground before eating them, proving to her that he's capable of taking risks. He also tells her that if she leaves, she'll never know what they could have had together. The scene then cuts to Reuben and Polly on the beach where he and Lisa had had their honeymoon at the beginning of the film and where he again encounters Claude. Instead of being angry this time Reuben thanks Claude, and then heads into the water with Polly.
Many critics disliked Along Came Polly, saying the chemistry was forced and scenes formulaic. The movie earned a "Rotten" 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.[1] The film was a financial success, making $170,360,435 in the worldwide box office.[2]
