Along Came Polly, written and directed by John Hamburg - 8 out of 10

Along Came Polly, written and directed by John Hamburg
8 out of 10


The Washington Post is probably spot on in saying:

'Is Along Came Polly a great film?
No, probably not, but it is a very amusing one'

Ben Stiller delivers, as he does most of the time, in the leading role of Reuben Feffer, an insurance business executive who knows too much about statistics, risks and is bent on having a very orderly life...

Until Polly Came Along...

Although, even before that life changing event, he suffers from a severe trauma, when his newlywed wife is cheating on him with the scuba diving instructor.
While Reuben is rather conservative, cautious and ordered, Polly Prince is the exact opposite, a woman willing to take chances, disorganized, a freedom lover.

In other words, they would be incompatible in the real world and they are considered a perfect match in this fiction.
Opposites may attract,  but don't get along well for the long term...as a rule.

The hero benefits from often strange advice from the outre personage, his friend Sandy Lyle aka the magnetic, regretted Philip Seymour Hoffman, who steals the show whenever he is on screen.
Sandy is adamant that a slap on the bottom of the partner is the key to joy.

That's anathema today and indeed, he did not work in the film.
The suggestion that Reuben should choose the restaurant for the date is more sensible, given his irritable colon.

As they eat oriental food, and Reuben's mother is outrageous in her racist efforts to talk with the waiter in some awkward pidgin, the irritable syndrome brings the man near catastrophe.

Toilet humor and a scene that reminds one of Dumb and Dumber follows.
Sandy is hilarious when he decides to play both Christ and Judas in the amateur rendition of Jesus Christ Superstar in which he acts.

As The Post excellently observed, this is an entertaining comedy, if not a memorable one.