Along Came Polly (2004)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

John Hamburg

Writer (WGA):

John Hamburg (written by)

Release Date:

16 January 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

For the most cautious man on Earth, life is about to get interesting.

Plot:

A buttoned up newlywed finds his too organized life falling into chaos when he falls in love with an old classmate.

Plot Keywords:

Honeymoon | Scuba | Love | Waitress | New York

Awards:

1 win & 8 nominations

Cast

Ben Stiller	...	Reuben Feffer
Jennifer Aniston	...	Polly Prince
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Sandy Lyle
Debra Messing	...	Lisa Kramer
Alec Baldwin	...	Stan Indursky
Hank Azaria	...	Claude
Bryan Brown	...	Leland Van Lew
Jsu Garcia	...	Javier
Michele Lee	...	Vivian Feffer
Bob Dishy	...	Irving Feffer
Missi Pyle	...	Roxanne
Judah Friedlander	...	Dustin
Kevin Hart	...	Vic
Masi Oka	...	Wonsuk
Kym Whitley	...	Gladys (as Kym E. Whitley)

Also Known As:

Risk (USA) (working title)
Untitled John Hamburg Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language, crude humor and some drug references.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:18SX | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Finland:K-7 | Germany:o.Al. | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:L | Netherlands:MG6 | Norway:A | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG (edited for re-rating) | Spain:7 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40495)

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company:

Jersey Films

Trivia:

Ben Stiller mentioned while on a talk show promoting the film that the ferret bit him a couple of times during production, including one time latching onto his chin.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time Rueben walks up to Polly when she is outside her apartment he runs across the road with no cell phone in his hand. When the shot switches to her then back to Rueben, he has his phone in his and is faking a phone call.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Reuben Feffer: [practicing] I, Reuben, take you, Lisa... I, Reuben, take YOU, Lisa, to be my lawfully wedded wife. I do. I do.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: Whistle While Your Wife Works (#5.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

LUV ME LUV ME

A funny and cute comedy with 'Ben and Jen'

Along Came Polly is not a masterpiece in the rom-com genre, but I did enjoy it, and although the humour is sometimes gross, it does make you laugh. However I would not consider this to be one of those movies to watch again and again. A one time watch, or just once every so often is good enough.

Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller) analyses risk for a living and is an extremely cautious man, with an extremely cautious life. When he marries Lisa (Debra Messing), everyone considers them the perfect couple, as they are well suited to one another. But when Lisa cheats on him on their honeymoon with their Frenchie-French scuba diving instructor Claude (Hank Azaria...BUFFED UP!), Reuben's heart breaks. He returns to New York and bumps into Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston), and they begin dating, despite being very different. Polly lives in the moment, Reuben thinks ahead. Polly loves ethnic food, Reuben hates it. Polly isn't too big with long-term relationships, whereas Reuben swears by it. Nevertheless their relationships seems to work. But when Lisa comes crawling back to Reuben, he is forced to make a decision. Who will it be, the free-spirited Polly, or Lisa, with whom Reuben shares a lot in common?

I thought this movie was very cute and I liked the ferret :). Ben Stiller's performance was not outstanding in this movie but he did play Reuben well, and to be honest I cannot imagine another actor as Reuben at all. He has a very identifiable voice and the knack of just being plain adorable. I would not say he owned the movie, like he usually does, but he certainly was very good. Jennifer Aniston was also just over average. I loved her in Friends, Bruce Almighty, but sadly I don't think she did as well as she could have. But her role was smaller than I would have thought. I really liked her character Polly Prince though, and I think this was because Polly was so much like myself. The last-minute planning, being untidy, liking ethnic food, the hunting for keys...all of this screamed 'ME' all the way through, and I thought Polly was a very realistic and likable character. Hank Azaria was so cute as Claude! Okay, so he was meant to be the villain, but come on, he's BUFF. He has a six pack and the French accent was just amazing. He is really talented if he can do about 5 different voices in 'The Simpsons' and then the Frenchiest French accent ever, here. Debra Messing made a small role as Lisa but she wasn't anything great, Philip Seymour Hoffman was hilarious as Sandy Lyle. I thought the character was gross, but very likable.

Not the best from Stiller or Aniston, but still delivers laughs.