Along Came Polly

Starring: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Anniston, Hank Azaria, Debra Messing, Alec Baldwin and Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Directed by: John Hamburg
Rated: R

Buy It!

This film is for die-hard Stillerians to be sure. If you're not a card holding member of the Ben Stiller legion of fans or big on his, "Why-always-me?" body functional circumstance buffoonery you'll probably hate Polly as director John Hamburger has super-sized Stiller's everyman guy-with-a-tad-worse-luck-than-most routine. My Stillerian card is lamenated and in my wallet. So, naturally, I loved it.

Story goes...Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller) is beaming as he weds his beautiful bride Lisa (Debra Messing). But faster then you can shout Mozeltov! and squash the celebratory glass, this Lisa character has absconded with a sexy (sort of) bikini clad dive instructor (Hank Azaria) she met on their Honeymoon.

A fine piece of work huh?

So Reuben comes home and faces the horror of telegraphed rejection. But his buddy, ex child star and practicing narcissist Sandy Lyle (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) helps him to the road of recovery - sort of.

Sandy drags the long faced Reuben to stuffy pseudo-elite events. When - low and behold - at one such event (in one funny as hell scene) Reuben meets Polly (Jennifer Anniston).

Polly's kind of a cracker short of being a package. Let's just say she has a hard time committing on oh-so-many levels and she has an encyclopedic edition of idiosyncrasies. She's polar opposite of the overly cautious statistic minded Reuben...

But still Reuben starts to feel that pinging pain in the heart that beckons love - kind of.

That's about it. Off we go towards that obligatory arc of, "She leaves in a huff. He hunts her down" found in any self-respecting studio comedy romance. Nothing new whatsoever. BUT the performances take the well-written humor dollops into the realms of great absurdity one longs for in farcical flights of fancy! The basketball scenes alone will have you bent in laughter! And the bathroom scenes are truly so funny you may need to bring your MOD (Movie Oxygen Device) to make it through! Juvenile poopypoo just way they should be.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - a genius anyway - as this once-was actor chap "Sandy" takes oozing creep-a-zoid to a level not seen in a year. He's a thespian addict's dream interpretation of American Pie's Stifler without the looks (sorry Phil). He huffs and puffs his way along till you're begging for a respite or you may just "shart" yourself. (<-- see the film, then you'll get it)

Ben Stiller's comic timing is, as always, perfect. Of course I find him hilarious always so I am a tad biased...but this petite package of comic talent runs wild here with the dogfaces and the smirks. Delicious.

Jennifer Anniston plays "Polly" with a bulletproof sense of who she is. Weird yet lovable, quirky yet grounded.

Hank Azaria has a brief - yet memorable - role as the slithering sexpot diver "Claude" that wows "Lisa" away from "Reuben." Okay - he's super buff and wearing practically nadda.... when exactly did Hank turn into a studmuffin of such grandiose dimensions? He's like a banana split sundae with multiple toppings of full-fat delicacies dripping sinful sweetness for our viewing pleasure...

On the opposite end of the attract-o-metor you'll find a greased up Alec Baldwin as "Stan Indursky." Al waltzes in as Stiller's over-the-top salesman souled boss. Eek. This guy once again, proves he's the king of slithering smarm and, beneath the facade of Aqua Velvet and liquefied pig lard he's primping his hair with, the talent bellows forth!

Bluntly speaking? Polly's nothing new - but who cares - it's side-splittingly funny with a cast that will have you in tears.... I mean Hoffman in yellow skanky sweats with a whole in the crotch for, one assumes, easier personal itching? Hank Azaria sporting one of his patented outrageously obvious accents? And topped by calm-cool mentally Mt Vesuvius Stiller? How can you help but cry with laughter?

Snack recommendation: Extra spicy Indian food eaten with your fingers.

Blunt Aside: No ferrets were harmed in the making of this film - they used a mechanical ferret for the "blind" walking into things scenes.