Along Came Polly
The only real thing that any romantic comedy needs really, despite mundane writing and jokes that don’t quite work, is CHEMISTRY between the two leads, and fortunately this 2004 effort provides that with Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston (the main indisputable reason in this world that Brad Pitt is a fucking idiot). The concept itself is certainly workable, as Stiller’s insurance risk analyst who doesn’t like to take chances and plans every waking moment to the letter (i.e. conservative) hooks up with Aniston’s free-spirited, itinerant, spontaneous woman who likes to live life as it comes (liberal), and the fact that the two stars actually do seem attracted to each other makes much of it work even as writer / director John Hamburg steers one time too many into gross out humor involving flatulence and such. The film opens with Stiller getting married to who believes to be the love of his life (Debra Messing) only to be approached on the first day of their honeymoon by a French scuba instructor who is VERY inappropriately buck naked (Hank Azaria, much more buff than we expect, given his dorky persona). One thing leads to another, and the scuba guy is soon screwing Stiller’s blushing bride which prompts Stiller to fly home and try to rebuild his life before he soon meets Aniston’s cute waitress Polly (whom he had been friends with in middle school). And thus begins the relationship, though the concept was solid enough that we didn’t need bits like Stiller rubbing up against a fat, shirtless, sweaty guy during a pick up basketball game or coming back from a spicy dinner with Aniston to use her bathroom for an extended round of shitting and farting culminating with him clogging her toilet. It all comes down to the simple fact that despite their differences, our two stars can look in each other’s eyes and know that they’re just RIGHT for each other. Hamburg also scores points for going with the usually boring character of the hero’s best friend that winds up being a hilarious comic creation in his own right and practically steals the movie: Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Sandy, a has-been child actor now performing in community theatre and sporting his own camera crew for a potential reality show, Hoffman keeps the viewer laughing with offbeat bits such as pouring the grease from Stiller’s slice of pizza onto his own because “it’s the best part”, to haphazardly playing his buddy in a game of basketball (and missing every single shot). It’s the classic example of writing up an outrageous supporting character and then casting an actor who can live up to what’s on the page (unlike many failed past attempts in movies). The rest of the lively cast includes Alec Baldwin who doesn’t seem too sure where he is going with the role of Stiller’s gruff boss; Bryan Brown as a jovial Aussie billionaire (obviously patterned after Richard Branson) whom Stiller must access for life insurance despite the fact that he’s a crazed daredevil who loves to pull wild stunts; Jsu Garcia as a gay salsa dancer who instructs Stiller so that he may show his girlfriend a good time; Missi Pyle as Aniston’s sarcastic waitress friend; Michele Lee as Stiller’s mother along with Bob Dishy as Stiller’s dad, who finally opens his mouth at the end with a wonderful monologue that puts both his son and Hoffman in their place. While some of the basic dynamics of a man-woman relationship seem a little off and awkward, the script deserves credit for presenting the moral dilemma of when Messing comes crawling back for forgiveness, and Stiller must decide between letting her back in his life (a tempting prospect since Messing is pretty hot), or sticking to his principles and staying with the baby girl that Aniston is since he has grown to love her (with double irony points since he’s looking for her to be the “one” while Aniston’s liberal nature makes her afraid of serious commitment) and ultimately a nice compromise is worked out that assures the viewer that one day he just might bring her home. Overall, a movie that for its genre that is far from perfect, but better than many…
7/10