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Along Came Polly (2004)
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Reviews Counted:151
Fresh:39
Rotten:112
Average Rating:4.8/10
Consensus: Though the supporting actors are funny, Stiller and Aniston don't make a believable couple, and the gross-out humor is gratuitous.
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Writer-director John Hamburg (writer of ZOOLANDER and MEET THE PARENTS), teams once again with Ben Stiller to make an offbeat character study that is guaranteed to induce helpless laughter. Reuben,... Writer-director John Hamburg (writer of ZOOLANDER and MEET THE PARENTS), teams once again with Ben Stiller to make an offbeat character study that is guaranteed to induce helpless laughter. Reuben, an overanxious insurance risk analyst (Stiller), weighs his every action by assessing pros and cons. He finds himself dumped on his honeymoon by fickle wife Lisa (Debra Messing) who runs off with Jacques, a nudist scuba instructor (Hank Azaria). A few days later, Reuben is back in New York at a pretentious gallery opening, wondering why he's bothering to test the waters so soon, when along comes Polly Price (Jennifer Aniston), a quirky, worldly, adventurous soul, whose only flaw appears to be a generalized lack of commitment. The formerly germ-obsessed, controlling Reuben is transformed by Polly's free spirit, her predilection for spicy food, and her pet ferret. Her love of salsa dancing makes him jealous and painfully uncomfortable. But his heart is aflame. Hamburg, who began his directorial career with SAFE MEN, has proven himself a reliable producer of charming realism and a brand of comedy comparable to that of the Farrelly brothers. Editor William Kerr has an extraordinary sense of comic timing, which gives ALONG CAME POLLY's funny factor a boost. Stiller's salsa solo is striking--the actor is actually an amazing dancer. Last but not least, Philip Seymour Hoffman (PUNCH DRUNK LOVE, FLAWLESS) nearly steals the show as Reuben's best friend Sandy Lyle who plays both Jesus and Judas in a community production of GODSPELL. [More]
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing, Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown, Alec Baldwin
Director: John Hamburg
Director: John Hamburg
Producer: Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher
Composer: Theodore Shapiro
Studio: Universal Pictures
Reviews for Along Came Polly
Without the rom-com requisites of charm, chemistry, comedy and character, this doesn't even meet low expectations.
The script just doesn't have enough comic moments to fill its 90-minute running time.
Though the cast are excellent and there are several funny scenes, the film doesn’t quite work, frequently relying too much on gross-out humour and not enough on a decent script.
One of the laziest rom-com scripts in memory ... the only joy in the film is the way the actors approach each ludicrously silly set piece.
It's a consistently amusing tale thanks largely to the eminently watchable cast.
Feels like it was cut from a bunch of other junk and pasted back together in a studio boardroom.
For all of you hungry-for-decent-comic-fare, Polly is a whole lotta ho-hum, a limping script with a few charming dimples.
Any and all funny aspect of this film are overshadowed by a strong tendency toward the sick and wrong.
It’s not a bad movie, nor is it memorable. The feature just came along to fill some screen space. Stiller and Aniston have done better work -- and worse.
Takes the oldest romantic comedy notion that there is -- opposites attract -- and does absolutely nothing new or even clever with it.
It looks like Universal Studios had their script doctors work on this one, but clearly nobody could come up with the right prescription.
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