Reel Talk:
Along Came Polly
By Audrey Rock
Tooele Transcript Film Critic

Ben Stiller made himself famous with awkward, endearing romantic rolls in screwball comedies "There’s Something About Mary" and "Meet The Parents." But over the last year, it appears Stiller is determined to become famous for unsavory movies that are neither comic nor romantic.

They feature no-chemistry matchups and a slew of gross-out scenarios designed to churn the stomach and make puerile boys laugh. Last year’s "Duplex" with Drew Barrymore was Stiller’s first mistake. "Along Came Polly" with Jennifer Aniston is his second.

Any and all funny aspect of this film (and there are plenty) are overshadowed by a strong tendency toward the sick and wrong. I wasn’t bored by this film; but I was grossed out. And I’d personally rather be bored than grossed out.

Stiller is Reuben Feffer, a kind hearted risk-assessment analyst who thinks he’s got it all together. That is, until he finds his beautiful, very put-together new wife Lisa (Debra Messing) cheating with a scuba instructor on the first day of their honeymoon.

Still married, and reeling from the impact, Reuben begins a relationship with Polly Prince (Aniston), a girl he knew in 7th grade. Reuben’s best friend, a former child star played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, attempts to talk him out of his infatuation with Polly.

But Reuben is compelled by Polly’s oddities and antics, and he continues to pursue her in spite of his friend’s warnings. Polly is everything that Lisa isn’t; a bohemian flake with an impulsive, daring, and impetuous streak. She has a blind ferret for a pet, can’t hold down a job, loves exotic foods and salsa dancing, and doesn’t understand the concept of “decorative pillows.”

Reuben is delighted and strangely excited by this dangerous new prospect, but he becomes hopelessly confused when Lisa shows up at home asking for another chance. He turns to risk-assessment techniques to decide which woman is the best long-term commitment, but in the end, it’s his heart he must rely on to make a decision.

All this is very cute, and the oddball girl/uptight guy storyline usually works; it’s a foolproof comic formula. But Stiller and Aniston produce a watered-down romance, neither titillating nor tender. As a matter of fact, a slew of peripheral cast members produce more interesting performances than the main characters.

They include Alec Baldwin as Reuben’s scumbag boss, Philip Seymour Hoffman as the arrogant community theater junkie who can’t let go of his childhood stardom, Hank Azaria as an uninhibited French nudist, and Rodolfo, the blind ferret.

Less interesting characters include the bathroom, which Reuben seems to have an irresistible attraction to; the toilet, to which he’s also inexplicably drawn, and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s underwear, to which we are forced to endure vile insight into.

Since Hoffman is responsible for an otherwise hilarious character who insists on playing both Jesus and Judas in a small production of “Jesus Christ: Superstar,” he wins the Best Performance in a Bad Movie trophy. But this is one dubious awards ceremony.

Grade: D+.