Along Came Polly

Ben Stiller has categorized the romantic comedy genre to his liking as he is basically the same poor and unfortunate schmo to have his whole world crashing down in whatever situation. In Along Came Polly, nothing is new as Ben Stiller reprises that archetype he has coined, as his overanxious character is full of insecurities and flaws that has chaos fall from above.

In this offbeat romantic character study, we find uptight, fully organized risk analyst, Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller), who is a newlywed. But when he catches his wife, Lisa (Debra Messing), cheating with the scuba instructor (Hank Azaria), his perfect little formatted life crumbles. It's not until after a heart to heart with his wingman, Sandy Lyle (Philip Seymour Hoffman), that he meets an old high school classmate, Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston), and he is brought out of his shell to be more adventurous to keep up with her.

Ben Stiller is still his awkward self, caught up in the most absurd and extreme situations that only could happen to him . . . in movies. His chemistry with Jennifer Aniston isn't very believable. Aniston, however, is quite cute as the free spirited nomadic and quirky soul. Her absent-mindedness at times is quite comforting.

The real strength of this movie resides in the backdrop ? that is, the supporting cast. Hank Azaria sports a speedo and flippers as he allows an exotic, almost irritating accent to soothe out of him. He mispronounces Reuben's name constantly. Then there's Alec Baldwin as Reuben's boss. He's a real ball busting brute wrapped in business attire.

Lastly, how could we forget Philip Seymour Hoffman as Sandy Lyle. This guy wows us with the gross-out humor. Sandy is an overweight, disgusting sight of a man who has amounted to nothing after hitting it big as a child star, but never getting anywhere from it. He lives in the past and pretends he's hot stuff as he tries to be both Jesus and Judas in a community play production.

I think what separates Along Came Polly from the other Ben Stiller comedies are the supporting actors he has exchanges with. That definitely elevates this movie above some of his past work, like Duplex, or Envy, or God knows what. Along Came Polly follows the formulaic typical romantic comedies of the past, but the strong ensemble supporting Stiller and Aniston gives this movie a full dose of funny that is quite infectious.