Along Came Polly DVD Review
Summary: Ben Stiller playing a variation of his usual role is arguably upstaged by Jennifer Aniston playing arguably a variation of her usual role.
3.6
Still Stiller
There’s a famous saying that goes something like there are no original movies, they are all just new versions of a few themes. This may well be true but the important thing is how the story is told, for it is in the telling that we are entertained. So it is with Along Came Polly. We have the fairly standard start, Ben Stiller’s character Reuben Feffer seems to have everything going for him, a great job, a fiance who becomes his wife shortly after the film starts and a new house. Naturally (as per the format) the rug gets pulled from under him when his wife cheats on him while they are on their honeymoon. Reuben returns to work and bumps into a former school mate (Jennifer Aniston as the eponymous Polly Prince). The pair end up hitting it off despite Reuben being a calculating clean freak and Polly being a free spirited go with the flow type person.
So yes there are some Hollywood standards here, boy meets girl, falls in love and presumably lives happily ever after. Conflict occurs and is resolved. But as pointed out earlier, the telling of the story is where the enjoyment is. The same story told a hundred times could sound new with the right tone. For me the start of the movie drags a little… I know it’s the set up and is needed but something about it just felt a bit laboured to me. But when Polly shows up, there is a marked change in the feel (appropriately enough really). I will admit I quite like Jennifer Aniston so that may play into things, but I think the shift from very formal, straight laced calculated events to a more free spirited go where the flow takes you attitude lends itself to the movie becoming more fun and light.
This is obviously a re-release and I can’t really find anything about it that says it’s been spruced up at all but fortunately nothing has been cut back either. As should be standard on all comedy movie discs there is indeed a gag real so you can watch the added fun of the cast fluffing lines and making each other laugh. There are a handful of other extra features as well to take you behind the scenes and commentary track to get an insight into the production.
If you like Ben Stillers usual offerings then you should be happy enough with this film. Ben is one of those actors who knows his strengths and works within them, it means there’s not a huge variety in his roles but it also means if you’ve liked him in one thing and are happy enough to see a slightly different version of that then you’re pretty safe watching another one of his movies. Jennifer Aniston takes a few more steps away from her standard character but I think hasn’t been given a lot of opportunities to really stretch her acting skills yet, this certainly falls into the similar to her usual character category but I find that when she enters the scene she lifts the movie and is very engaging.
Director – John Hamburg
Actors – Ben Stiller (Actor)|Jennifer Aniston (Actor)|Philip Seymour Hoffman (Actor)|Debra Messing (Actor)|Alec Baldwin (Actor)
Film Genre – Comedy
Label – Shock
Audio – English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Running Time – 85
Region Coding – 4
TV Standard – PAL
Rating – CTC
Year of Release – 2004
Primary Format – Movies/TV – DVD
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
Related Posts
The Kenny Everett Video Show The Complete Series DVD Review →
Dylan Moran: Dr Cosmos DVD Review →
MIFF 2022: Flux Gourmet (2022) Review →
