Along Came Polly

Directed by John Hamburg, Along Came Polly follows Ben Stiller’s uptight Reuben Feffer as he falls for a freespirited waitress (Jennifer Aniston’s Polly) after his wife (Debra Messing’s Lisa) cheats on him. It’s a fairly standard romcom setup that is, for the most part, employed to better-than-average effect by Hamburg, as the filmmaker, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced (and often very funny) endeavor that benefits from the top-tier efforts of its various performers – with Stiller and Aniston’s winning work here matched (and exceeded) by an assortment of such first-class periphery players as Alec Baldwin, Bryan Brown, and Hank Azaria. (It’s clear, however, that Philip Seymour Hoffman’s scene-stealing, completely committed turn as Reuben’s sleazy best friend remains an obvious and ongoing highlight within the proceedings.) And although Hamburg occasionally relies a little too firmly on certain well-established genre conventions, including the almost always needless fake breakup, Along Came Polly progresses into a satisfying third act that effectively ties up the various subplots and ensures that the movie concludes on a thoroughly positive note – with the end result a mostly engaging romantic comedy that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

***1/2 out of ****

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