Along Came Polly

Along Came Polly

Romantic comedies seem to pop up everywhere these days, and unfortunately the majority of them are carbon copies of others. It's pretty difficult to come up with new situations for people to fall in love. Jennifer Aniston has already starred in a fair few of these rom-coms none of which have been very good. Stiller on the other hand has made a living playing the geek, the awkward mumbler who comes a cropper at all the wrong times.

Along came polly is a fairly simple story which you will already know the ending from ten minutes in, but the route along the way is the fun part, and there are laughs to be had. Ben Stiller is Reuben Feffer, the happiest man on the planet as he marries his partner and goes off for an amazing honeymoon. The trouble is that his now wife cheats on him on the first day with a scuba driving instructor. Reuben is devastated and returns to America to try to get on with his life. His job as a risk accessor has turned him into an analytical nightmare. He's nervous, and scared of taking any chances. His life changes though when he bumps into Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston), a friend from his much younger school days. Polly is the exact opposite of Reuben, she is indecisive and afraid of commitment, yet that manage to form a friendship.

After Starksy and Hutch, I had started to wonder if Ben Stiller was funny any more. Sometime his awkward comedy style just doesn't fit with me and find my self cringing at the screen and wanting to turn the channel. Meet the Parents is another example, of Stiller playing a loser who encounters various accidents. Along came polly doesn't seem to have as much of the cringing American comedy style, but the comedy set pieces are similar to those that have come to before. Think Harry on the toilet in Dumb and Dumber and you'll be pretty close.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman puts in another very funny supporting role as Reuben's wingman, Sandy Lyle. Sandy is famous for starring in a film when he was child, but the acting work has now dried up, yet Sandy's ego has managed to grow! Hoffman comes out with some brilliantly funny lines, and his timing is perfect. Another supporting character also manages to bag himself some of the best scenes of the film. Bryan Brown (Doug Coughlin from Cocktail) plays Leland Van Lew, an extreme sport loving , danger hunting executive who needs to get life insurance in order to take over his company. Ultimately, the decision lies with Reuben and his computer software.

Aniston puts in another average performance, and seems very similar to all of her other film roles. Although, Aniston has had the best film run out of the 'Friends' cast, she hasn't exactly had a sure fit hit. This is probably her best film to date.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film and did laugh out loud on several occasions, but like I mentioned before it just seemed that every scene could of been taken from a different movie. Stiller does manage to be funny without making you cringe, whilst the story skips along at a fair pace. It was perfect for watching on a Sunday afternoon when you don't have to think to hard to follow on. Nothing spectacular, but a funny solid effort.