Ben Stiller Collection (1994)

Ben Stiller is featured in four of his funniest and most popular roles in THE BEN STILLER COLLECTION. In ALONG CAME POLLY Stiller reunites with director John Hamburg (who wrote ZOOLANDER and MEET THE PARENTS), starring as Reuben, an overanxious insurance risk analyst who weighs his every action by assessing pros and cons. He finds himself dumped on his honeymoon by fickle wife Lisa (Debra Messing). A few days later, Reuben is back in New York when along comes Polly Price (Jennifer Aniston), a quirky, worldly, adventurous soul who just might teach him to lighten up. Hamburg and Stiller first teamed up in MEET THE PARENTS, which pitted Stiller against acting powerhouse Robert De Niro. Before he can marry his fiancée Pam (Teri Polo), the unfortunately named Greg Focker (Stiller) must first win over her parents (De Niro and Blythe Danner). But a series of misunderstandings between the two soon becomes a nightmare for poor Greg. In the tradition of ANNIE HALL and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, MEET THE PARENTS is an intelligent yet slapstick comedy about the eccentricities of the American family. Stiller plays wannabe superhero Mr. Furious in MYSTERY MEN, a slapstick parody of the genre. When Captain Amazing, chief superhero of Champion City, is kidnapped by insane supervillain Casanova Frankenstein, who will save the city and ensure that justice is served? Enter the Mystery Men: Mr. Furious, The Bowler, The Blue Raja, The Shoveler, The Spleen, The Sphinx, and the Invisible Boy--a group of misfits in possession of some bizarre superpowers, in this adaptation of the popular Dark Horse comic. Finally included is Stiller's directorial debut REALITY BITES, which is a distinct change of pace in tone as well as in Stiller's performance from the other films in the set. Winona Ryder stars as Lelaina Pierce, who, facing life after college, uses a video documentary about her confused and drifting friends to advance her ambitions in the entertainment industry. When a video executive (Stiller) becomes romantically interested in her, she is forced to choose between her slacker boyfriend (Ethan Hawke) and the big cruel world of adulthood lurking ahead. Each of the films in THE BEN STILLER COLLECTION displays Stiller's considerable comedic talents as well as his range and ability to create sympathetic characters.