Along Came Polly [DVD] [2004]

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Product Description Romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller. Reuben (Stiller) is a risk assessor for an insurance company, and hates taking risks of any kind. But when his new bride runs off with the diving instructor on their honeymoon, he begins to wonder if his risk assessment is so accurate after all. On his return from his disastrous honeymoon, he runs into the beautiful, free-spirited Polly (Aniston), an old acquaintance from junior high, at a party. But is he ready to put his feelings on the line, let himself go and have some fun with her? From .co.uk 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 P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Synopsis 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 generalised 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. See more