Along Came Polly (2004)

Director:

John Hamburg

Writer (WGA):

John Hamburg (written by)

Release Date:

16 January 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

For the most cautious man on Earth, life is about to get interesting.

Plot:

A buttoned up newlywed finds his too organized life falling into chaos when he falls in love with an old classmate.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Public Nudity | Cuckold | Male Female Relationship | Ferret

Awards:

1 win & 8 nominations

Cast

Ben Stiller	...	Reuben Feffer
Jennifer Aniston	...	Polly Prince
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Sandy Lyle
Debra Messing	...	Lisa Kramer
Alec Baldwin	...	Stan Indursky
Hank Azaria	...	Claude
Bryan Brown	...	Leland Van Lew
Jsu Garcia	...	Javier
Michele Lee	...	Vivian Feffer
Bob Dishy	...	Irving Feffer
Missi Pyle	...	Roxanne
Judah Friedlander	...	Dustin
Kevin Hart	...	Vic
Masi Oka	...	Wonsuk
Kym Whitley	...	Gladys (as Kym E. Whitley)

Also Known As:

Risk (USA) (working title)
Untitled John Hamburg Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language, crude humor and some drug references.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:18SX | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Brazil:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Finland:K-7 | Germany:o.Al. | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:L | Netherlands:MG6 | Norway:A | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG (edited for re-rating) | Spain:7 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40495)

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company:

Jersey Films

Trivia:

Jennifer Aniston (Polly) and Debra Messing (Lisa) both starred on very successful, and some might say, rival, sitcoms, 'Friends' and 'Will & Grace'. However, they also have numerous connections with other co-stars of 'Along Came Polly', through the two shows. Ben Stiller (Reuben) appeared on 'Friends', in 1994, as Tommy, Rachel's (Aniston) date, in 'The One With The Screamer'. In addition, Ben Stiller's wife, Christine Taylor, also made a guest appearance as Bonnie, Ross's girlfriend, in 1997. Moreover, Hank Azaria (Claude) appeared on 'Friends' as a regular guest, as Phoebe's on/off boyfriend, David. Furthermore, Messing starred alongside Dermot Mulroney in 'The Wedding Date', in 2005, whom also made a guest appearance in 'Friends', as Gavin, in 2003, as Rachel's (Aniston) work colleague. Finally, Alec Baldwin (Stan) appeared alongside Messing in Will & Grace, in 2005, as Malcolm, and also in 'Friends' as Parker, Phoebe's (Kudrow) overly positive annoying boyfriend.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Reuben has used Polly's special "Sponge", he stands at the door with the sponge wrapped in a plastic bag without anything printed on it. The next shot of the bag shows that it has red and blue printing.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Reuben Feffer: [practicing] I, Reuben, take you, Lisa... I, Reuben, take YOU, Lisa, to be my lawfully wedded wife. I do. I do.

Movie Connections:

References Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

Soundtrack:

LET MY LOVE OPEN THE DOOR

Along came an Aniston rom-com

Add me to the list of folks who saw this film under duress, since some friends were going and I decided to tag along just to see them. I was pleasantly surprised at this film, since I'm no big Stiller fan and can take or leave Aniston (having just seen one of her previous rom-coms Picture Perfect).

It's a by-the-numbers, perfectly acceptable opposites-attract rom-com, with an unfortunate overlay of gross-out humor that seems to have been added by someone along the way to change the tone of the film. But this gross-out stuff is loaded towards the start, so once it's out of the way the two stars can get back to business - which is pushing and pulling each other until Stiller can "see the light." Interesting how there's no attempt to show that Aniston's character has to or is interested in changing, it all comes from Stiller's character, who frankly is in a fine position in his life and really doesn't need the "wildness" that Aniston is supposed to represent.

I was impressed by how they handle the wandering-wife-comes-back storyline, she presents herself quite humbly and asks for forgiveness and frankly he would have been better off going to counseling with her and getting on with his life in suburbia. But hey, everyone knows (in movies, anyway) that you're supposed to spend your life with the person who's least like you. Har de har har, good luck to that!