There's nothing wrong with Along Came Polly, but it is a case of deja vu all over again. Can't Ben Stiller ever get out of that bathroom (There's Something About Mary)?
In Along Came Polly, Stiller plays an insurance guy who knows all the risks life has to offer and avoids them all in a fairly neurotic fashion. He gets married. On his honeymoon, his new bride (Debra Messing) runs off with a French scuba guide (Hank Azaria, the only truly funny thing in the film).
Poor shlub. So sad. Etc.
Back home in New York, our pathetic hero runs into a woman he knew in school -- Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston). They go out together. She likes to take risks and stay open to new experiences. Stiller's character goes along with that long enough to have funny flatulence scenes, funny sweating scenes, funny dancing scenes, funny pillow-stabbing scenes.
Polly has a pet. It's a blind ferret. The ferret bumps into things with very loud "bang" special effects. It's funny the first and second time, but not so funny the 10th time.
Anyway, the errant wife comes back and Stiller's character has to choose between the two women -- one safe, one wild -- or perhaps choose a new agent, whichever comes first.
Somewhere in the midst of all this funny stuff you've seen before Stiller does a few cute scenes with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays a has-been actor with disgusting personal habits, and Brian Brown, as a crazed Australian insurance risk and Alec Baldwin, who plays Stiller's piggish boss and plays him well.
And that's that. If you've seen the trailer, you've seen most of the highlights in Along Came Polly. It has two or three good laughs. This is mediocre TV fare, somehow extended from the permitted 30-minute slot to feature film length. Who lets that happen?
(This film is rated PG)
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