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Along Came Polly (Full Screen Edition)

Along Came Polly (Full Screen Edition)

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Along Came Polly review
Review: Along Came Polly as mentioned in another review is not oscar winning material, but it would be nice addition to anyone's collection of romantic comedy. Anyway, as many have pointed out Stiller plays Reuben who is a risk analyst for a insurance firm. He never believes in taking risk unless he knows that is a safe bet. However, his analysts always failed when it came to relationships, LITERALLY! Even though everybody has serious doubts about Reubuen's idea to get married to Lisa, he said he knows he's making the right decision. Of course, the honeymoon proved he was wrong and now Reubuen trying to figure out what went wrong. Sandy Lyle his best friend throughout the whole movie gives him advice and support throughout all relationship choices Reubuen makes. Anyway, Sandy does convince him to attend a artisitic party where he meets Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston) a girl he hasn't met since the 7th grade. Reuben believes that maybe there is a reason why he has met Polly and maybe she is the one. Even though she appears to have the same characteristics he supposedly has, Sandy once again reminds him that he has only met her for a few days and that she could end up being another Lisa. Reuben does discover what her life is like and it is not trying avoid risks, but there her lifestyle like salsa dancing and eating ethnic foods opens up Reuben and exposes a side of him that he didn't know existed. That maybe he isn't the playing it safe guy that he thought he was. As both Polly and Reuben were starting to get real close in their relationship, his wife comes back into the picture. Reuben then turns to Sandy and his computer of risk anaysts statisitics to determine who should he better off with, even though he knew in his heart that Polly was the one he wanted. In the end, just like the Family Man (if you've seen that movie) we never know if the two do get back together and get married, we just know that they try to get back together. Alot of people complain of the toilet humor, but it's not that bad considered the gags that were in other Stiller flicks like There's Something about Mary and Meet The Parents. It is a good light hearted comedy that avoids raunchy humor.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The other Ben & Jen
Review: Along Came Polly does try desperately to be a top of the range rom-com movie. Unfortunately, these rom-coms all have the same format, and are all beginning to look just slightly tired. But this was still slightly above average, because it had Jennifer Aniston. I'm sorry, but Ben Stiller reminds me a lot of a less funny Jim Carrey, and a less annoying Adam Sandler.

To think, when Jen was filming this, she was also filming Friends AND Bruce Almighty at the same time. And then she would go home to Brad Pitt. I'm not jealous, I'm one of very few women who actually doesn't think he's THAT nice looking. I'll get flamed for saying I've seen better!

Along Came Polly has everything. Toilet humour, blind ferrets, a homosexual love interest (could I be talking about Alex Baldwin?!), ex-wives who run off with Hank Azaria - I mean, what more could you ask for from a film?

Hank Azaria is the best part of this. Plus, the fact that he's very easy on the eye while he's running about wearing little more than a smile most of the time helped! I don't know why this guy insists on doing so much voice work on The Simpsons etc, when he's got a body like that hidden away!

There's various rip-offs of other movies, the most prominent ones being the toilet scene featuring Ben, is exactly the same as the one in Dumb & Dumber, only not as funny, and not as loud. Also, there's a scene where Ben's character makes a list about Jen & his ex wife's plus and negative points. Hmmm - Friends anyone?! Ross making a list about Rachel & Julie?! Season 2?!

The extras are pretty average. You've got a rather pointless feature, with the 'star' of the movie, the blind ferret. There are also deleted scenes, outtakes, and not much else. Apart from cast & crew.

Overall, it's still a good movie. I'll probably always watch these movies, to see if there's ever going to be anything different. But Hank Azaria gets top marks!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Along Came Polly
Review: Along Came Polly has a cast to die for but the lead characters relationship is to hard to believe and the nasty humor is annoying and not extremely funny.This movie wasn't completely terrible but it was kind of a waste of time.The acting is pretty good.The dialogue mostly consists of raunchy humor or potty jokes.The The characters are likeable though.Overall, though, the plot just isn't strong enough for a rememorable and fun movie.If you like the cast then you will want to see this, but trust me it is just a little less than average when it comes to these kind of movies.This is pretty much a regular example of John Hamburg material.Only watch if you have time.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.

"Stiller and Aniston are trapped in the constrictive material, trying to make the best of a crummy, formulaic situation. "
-- Phil Villarreal, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This one's for Rueben!
Review: Along Came Polly has a pretty good pedigree - the writers of Meet The Parents, a lead character called Rueben and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Can't fail, right? I really wanted to like this movie. The preview looked great, I love Ben Stiller and the premise sounds intriguing enough (the OCD freak who dates the scatterbrain), but sadly something is missing, some certain spark, some pure essence, what the French would call... well, I don't know what the French would call it, but it's not there. Time and again the script sets up these really funny situations and then simply wastes them. "Meet The Parents" and "There's Something About Mary" derive their humor from creating these awkward situations and then following them through in excruciatingly hilarious detail, while Stiller squirms in embarrassment - desecrating Robert De Niro's mother's ashes, fighting with Cameron Diaz's friends dog, spray painting the tail of a cat - all hilariously built up and followed through, without seeming strained. Here though the audience is spared seeing Stiller suffer these indignities (the bathroom incident for example, where the cut is made when he looks at the towel), but in turn misses out on the big pay-off laugh, the caramel center beneath the chocolate. The movie is missing the proverbial money shot. Certain scenes are certainly hilarious and well observed, certain characters and relationships are very very funny - Phillip Seymour Hoffman yet again proves himself to be one of the greatest character actors of our time, and almost saving the movie single-handedly- but on balance I don't think this is a movie I'll come back to time and again.
On a separate note Jennifer Aniston is awful as usual! I don't know why anyone ever thought she'd work on the big screen : Office Space, Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly - she plays the same slightly vapid, character each time, and yet each time the guy is supposed to fall madly in love with her, enough to turn his whole life around? Why? She's as interesting as a wet paper bag, and just as likeable - she simply has no charisma on the big screen, no ability to hold the audience's interest, no timing and no presence. Mind you, Friends itself wasn't exactly a great proving ground...
Anyway, I'd say wait for the DVD release of ...Polly and rent don't buy. On the plus side the movie does feature the phrase "Rueben!" repeatedly. I'd suggest busting a little happy juice into the cinema and tipping one whenever the big guy gets a shout out. It'll make the movie go quicker and seem a lot funnier. Then go home, and go to sleep until March when the new Starsky and Hutch movie is released featuring Stiller, Owen Wilson, Snoop Dogg and Vince Vaughn!! I just hope no-one lets Jennifer Aniston anywhere near it!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Funny: Weak Plot Great Support: Polly's Not Bad
Review: Along Came Polly is a good film with a weak plot and poor performances by the lead actors. After saying this I will say that there are funny parts and if you don't care that the lead roles are played unconvincingly and are completely stereotypical this is movie is worth watching. I will say that the supporting roles do help sustain the movie from being a comple train wreck. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is great playing a role of a child actor grown up into a dissolusioned loser and Hank Azaria is absolutely funny in role Claude the French SCUBA instructor and it is worth watching this film just for these roles.

But its "tough nouggies" for Ben Stiller and Jennifer Anniston. Stiller is funny in the bathroom scene and a few others although he performs a Salsa scene that should have been an outake only available in the DVD version. He also makes these ridiculous facial expressions throughout the film that can only make one think that he wasn't trying too hard. I am not a fan of Jenifer Anniston. That being said she was bad in this role. She was great in "Office Space" but here she looks worn out and played the role so unsympathetically (maybe she just needs to eat).

Though it may sound like I didn't like the movie I will be forgiving and say that on the whole it is a fun watch. The DVD edition is full of outakes commentaries and an alternate opening. If you are fans of the actors then you will love it, if not you should still find it funny. The DVD is worth having for something funny to watch on a rainy afternoon.

-- Ted Murena

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Surprisingly Charming Mess
Review: Along Came Polly is a movie that does so many things wrong it should be an utter failure. Through miracles of acting and pacing and some funny gags, the end result is a romantic comedy that although slight and flawed, is also charming, somewhat witty and very watch able.

Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller) is an uptight man who lives a perfectly planned life. A shock after he catches wife cheats on him in his honey moon with his scuba diving instructor ("They still had their flippers on" he later recounts) leads him to pursue a romance with free spirit Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston) who upsets his organized, yappy life.

The worst failure of the film is that it is entirely Stiller's movie. Romantic comedies should have two protagonists, each working on their own problems, with the romance as the solution to both of their problems. But we never get any insight into Aniston's character. Is she dissatisfied with her life? What does she find in Reuben's character? There are hints of a back-story (a one line reference to Polly's father having another family) suggesting that there might have been a plotline edited out, but as it is, we know nothing. I believe that short of two short-short scenes, Aniston never appears on screen without Stiller.

The interaction between Reuben and Polly is too limited, too. One moment they are on the verge of breaking up, the next one they (predictably) have sex for the first time. After that, we never see their relationship change of deepens. They never get closer together. The status quo remains till the very end.

Furthermore, when the inevitable complication rise (the return of Reuben's wife) it feels mandatory and not a natural part of the plot. It feels as if the scriptwriter put the complications in there, and did not know what to do about it.

Then there is a silly sub plot about Leland Van Lew (Bryan Brown), the man whom Reuben has to insure. Leland lives a dangerous life, and the joke is that he's uninsurable. So we get many scenes where Leland does crazy, dangerous things, while Reuben watches. Some of the gags are funny, but the subplot never goes anywhere - it could have ended in five minutes or continued indefinitely.

Finally, there are far too many gross jokes, which are only occasionally funny, and suit better a dumb-and-dumber style movie then a cute romantic comedy.

Nonetheless, the film has several advantages, which make it watch able despite the flaws.

Chief among them is Philip Seymour Hoffman, playing Stiller's best friend, a has-been actor trying to outlive his fame. His subplot get relatively a lot of attention, and is very amusing (climaxing in a scene when he insists on playing both Jesus and Judas in 'Jesus Christ Superstar').

Then there are several funny and cute jokes. Among them, everyone knows about Reuben's misfortune with his wife, funny scenes when Philip Hoffman replaces Stiller for a day in the office, and some really great gags about Polly Prince's blind ferret. There are also cute references to Friends - Like Rachel, Aniston's alter ego in the TV show, Polly is a terrible waitress, and like Ross, Aniston's love interest in that TV show, Reuben makes comparative lists of Polly and his ex-wife on his laptop.

Finally, the acting all around is solid. Stiller and Anniston have enough (...) tension and charisma to make good romantic comedy heroes.

For all the criticism, I did enjoy 'Along Came Polly', and that's what counts, right?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Along Came Polly- Jolly Good Fun!
Review: Along Came Polly, the new comedy from John Hamburg, the co-writer of Meet the Parents is one funny movie. Ben Stiller is one funny guy, and Jennifer Aniston has a good comic moments herself.
Though the film's plot is nothing original, it does get quite a few laughs and entertains for the most part. Ben Stiller plays a risk consultant who always is worried about taking risks, he soon marries a woman who he loves (Debra Messing) and soon is sad to find her cheating on him on their honeymoon. After he is emotionally scarred he travels back to the Big Apple and finds Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston) a friend of his from junior high. Soon they become more acquainted and fall in love. Other comic actors include Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Ben Stiller's best pal and Alec Baldwin as his hysterical boss.
I must say though that most of the humor involves some crude gags, including vomiting, farting, and a rather extraodinary thing called "sharting" which I'll let you figure out on your own (or just see the movie). The movie is consistently funny and is worth a look. Hamburg has definetly proved himself as a great comic writer/director and I'm waiting to see more from him in the future.
Along Came Polly is rated PG-13 for Language, Sexual Content, Crude Humor and Some Drug References. The language is moderate and not very strong, the sexual content includes innuendo as well as comic sex scenes, which aren't explicit or graphic. The crude humor, well that's probably the best part of the film, hehe. All in all, worth seeing in theatres and not a bad pick for owning on Video or DVD.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good surprise.
Review: Although bashed by critics, this film isn't that horrible, in fact it isn't horrible. Take friends Rachel Green, and pretend that she didn't run into Joey, Phoebe, Monica, Ross, and Channler, and take Ben Stiller's character from There's Something About Mary, and stick him in the middle of Manhattan and you have the characters for this comedy. The film was funny, and kept my attention. The film did not disappoint me, Jennifer Aniston is instantly likeable, and Ben Stiller, is instantly sympathetic. Another reason to check out this filck is to see Phillip Seymore Hoffman, in an impecable comedic performance. See it for a feel good time and a good laugh.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: That ferret is so cute
Review: Ben Stiler and the ferret, they are lovely!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good 'ol Ben Stiller Comedy
Review: Ben Stiller plays risk-averse Reuben Feffer, whose best-laid plans for life and love careen wildly off track when his bride dumps him on their honeymoon for a muscle-bound scuba instructor. Stunned, humiliated and in the grip of acute indigestion, Reuben plans to play it safer than ever. But a chance encounter with an adventure-craving, childhood friend named Polly (Jennifer Aniston) shoots him into a whirlwind of extreme sports, spicy foods, ferrets, salsa dancing and living in the moment. Its a very funny and well made movie :)


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