Along Came Polly DVD > Reviews > Mediocre rom-com

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Entertaining enough
Disadvantages:	No hint of attraction between Stiller and Aniston, Stiller and Messing

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Reuben, a risk assessment consultant, thinks his life is complete. He has a beautiful wife and a great job with lots of money. Then his wife, Lisa, meets a sexy scuba diver on their honeymoon and Reuben finds them in a compromising position. Humiliated, he returns home without his new wife and without much self-esteem either.

A couple of weeks later, while still licking his wounds, he bumps into Polly, someone he used to know from school. Despite the fact that the two of them are opposites, they are attracted to each other: Reuben is always assessing risk in side and outside of his job and often fails to take chances because of this, whereas Polly likes to experiment and gets bored when she is not challenged. Can they compromise and find a way to live their life together, or are they too different to be a couple?

I must admit I don't often choose to watch rom-coms, but occasionally, it is pleasant to sit down and watch something that requires no brain-power whatsoever. This is definitely such a film. However, I generally enjoy Ben Stiller's characters and I will always have a soft spot for Jennifer Aniston because of her role as Rachel in Friends. What I found was a film that was certainly entertaining enough, but won't be one that I will go out of my way to watch again.

Ben Stiller is his usual over-the-top self as Reuben Everything he does is exaggerated, but he still manages to stay just the right side of cheesy. As someone who thinks that his life, once so tidy and ordered, is now over, he delivers a pretty good performance. It was certainly good enough to make me feel sorry for him when his wife left him anyway.

Jennifer Aniston plays Polly, the kookie American girl who likes a bit of excitement in her life. Much as I like Jennifer Aniston, she gives a non-descript performance as Polly. Supposedly someone who likes to take life as it comes, she manages to seem boring and on occasion, a little annoying. What finally lets her down though is the lack of spark between Polly and Reuben. I really found it unbelievable that they were in love. Frankly, having seen a number of films that Jennifer Aniston has done since Friends, I do have to doubt whether she actually has any acting skills at all.

Reuben's wife, Lisa, is played by Debra Messing, better known for her role as Grace in Will & Grace. I have never really taken to Grace as a character; I find her selfish and inward-looking. This role is so similar that I am beginning to doubt that Debra Messing can act at all. Again, there was absolutely no spark between her and Reuben, even when they were supposed to be madly in love. A disappointing performance.

I have to mention Philip Seymour Hoffman as Sandy, simply because Hoffman is such a talented actor. I thought his role in Capote last year was the performance of the year and he has also given one or two other outstanding performances. This is not one of them. However, I think this is partly because of the small role and partly because I think he is better suited to drama. His appearance makes him immediately seem appropriate for comedy, but I don't think it gives him enough creative room to move. I would really like to see him avoid this type of film in the future - he has way too much talent.

Comedy-wise, Ben Stiller definitely makes the film entertaining. He has the best lines and all the expressions necessary to make his audience laugh. However, if he hadn't been in the film, it would have been a flop. The whole premise of the film is just not that funny and there isn't really enough of a twist at the end to make it an interesting film. There are some funny moments during the film, but that is mainly down to Stiller's comic timing rather than anything else. It was no surprise to me that the film is directed and written by John Hamburg, who is also responsible for Meet the Parents and Zoolander - the humour is much of a muchness.

At the same time, I have certainly watched worse films and I can see that the market for which it is aimed, young girls, would have found it enjoyable enough. Despite my criticisms, I was happy to watch it all the way through without thinking of turning it off. It is just a film that won't particularly stick in my mind, and is certainly not one that I would go out of my way to see again. Recommended, but don't get too excited.

I watched the film only version, but the DVD is available from Amazon for £4.98.

Classification: 12

Running time: 90 minutes