Other Titles • Along Came Polly (2004) • Risk • Untitled John Hamburg Project
Synopses for Along Came Polly (2004)
1.
Reuben Feffer (BEN STILLER) has made a fine life—and a good career—out of playing it safe. The star risk assessor for a leading insurance firm, Reuben is an expert on minimizing danger—nothing ventured, nothing lost. Polly Prince (JENNIFER ANISTON) plays her life like a game of chance, taking joy from the serendipity that a rolling stone existence brings her. There’s always another opportunity—a new job, yet another apartment in another city—should this one not work out. No biggie…next. So when a chance meeting puts Reuben and Polly at the same party, the recently (and extremely) jilted Reuben decides that for once, chance may just be on his side. Dating Polly might be the answer to getting his life back on track—she’s attractive, fresh, funny—and after all, the two knew each other in seventh grade, when they were both delegates in the Model U.N. together. Just how much can a person change? Well, Polly probably didn’t have tattoos in junior high. Or have a penchant for spicy food, steamy salsa dancing or collecting tokens from boyfriends past…like the near-blind ferret she picked up in Italy. And Reuben—his propensity to plan everything in his life may not have been as all-encompassing in middle school, nor his compulsion with living in the middle of the road as pronounced. But even in the middle of the road, Reuben finds that there are bound to be bumps—like indigestible food, scary children’s stories, sight-impaired house pets. Life is risky, and so is love…and with Polly along for the ride, could one expect (or enjoy) anything less?
(11 votes)
2.
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.
(8 votes)
3.
Opposites are forced to attract in Along Came Polly. Ben Stiller is a newlywed insurance risk-assessment analyst whose wife (Debra Messing, in a throwaway role) betrays him on their honeymoon. His uptight, play-it-safe lifestyle (which includes acute aversion to germs and irritable bowel syndrome) makes him seemingly incompatible with the spontaneous, free-spirited Polly (Jennifer Aniston), but writer-director John Hamburg (whose writing credits include the previous Stiller hits Meet the Parents and Zoolander) is determined to give them at least the appearance of romantic potential. No such luck. You will, however, get a few laughs from supporting players Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bryan Brown, and Alec Baldwin. The film is a dose of featherweight fluff that could've been better and could've been worse--surely no pairing of Stiller and Aniston can be a complete waste of time, right? Faint praise, perhaps, but fans of these mainstream funny-folk will enjoy this movie as a lazy weekend distraction. --Jeff Shannon
(9 votes)
4.
Opposites are forced to attract in Along Came Polly, a dose of featherweight fluff that could've been better and could've been worse--surely no pairing of Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston can be a complete waste of time, right? Faint praise indeed, but fans of these mainstream funny-folk will enjoy this movie as a lazy-weekend distraction. Ben's a newlywed insurance risk-assessment analyst whose wife (Debra Messing, in a throwaway role) betrays him on their honeymoon. His uptight, play-it-safe lifestyle (which includes acute aversion to germs and irritable bowel syndrome) makes him seemingly incompatible with the spontaneous, free-spirited Polly (Aniston), but writer-director John Hamburg (whose writing credits include the previous Stiller hits Meet the Parents and Zoolander) is determined to give them at least the appearance of romantic potential. No such luck. You will, however, get a few laughs from supporting players Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bryan Brown, and Alec Baldwin. --Jeff Shannon
(6 votes)
5.
Coming soon!
(6 votes)
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
<>
Movie Database
In Theaters
