Along Came Polly

[bix171]

Ever since his breakthrough in “There’s Something About Mary”, Ben Stiller has been playing it very safe by reprising his signature role, the put-upon, wary nebbish (an exception being “The Royal Tenenbaums”) and while in “Along Came Polly” he doesn’t try anything even remotely new, the vehicle still serves him well. The film, as a whole, also benefits from some graceful comedy direction by John Hamburg (who also wrote the script and was one of the writers on Stiller’s “Meet The Parents”). Stiller plays an insurance actuary who discovers his wife’s infidelity on their honeymoon and tries to loosen up by getting involved with free spirit Jennifer Aniston (herself regressing after a promising performance in “The Good Girl”) but their differences threaten the relationship. Actually, there’s not as much chemistry between Stiller and Aniston as the plot requires but Hamburg deflects this by placing his characters in interesting settings. (The film’s emotional climax—an argument—is in the cabin of a boat roiling in a storm and the shifting furniture is an interesting commentary on the dialogue.) As is now expected with most Stiller comedies, there are plenty of gross-out gags but most are actually laugh-out-loud funny, particularly a scene in Aniston’s bathroom with an overflowing toilet. The supporting cast is unusually good and they’re used, for the most part, to their best advantage; they include Debra Messing as Stiller’s unfaithful bride, Philip Seymour Hoffman as his best friend, a faded teen actor reduced, as an adult, to amateur revivals of “Jesus Christ Superstar” (a role Jack Black would’ve played before he upgraded to leading man status); an amusing Hank Azaria as Messing’s fling; and Michele Lee and Bob Dishy as Stiller’s parents. (The likable Dishy is silent through most of the movie; when he finally speaks, he’s provided with Hamburg’s least convincing dialogue.) But it’s Alec Baldwin, as Stiller’s insurance agent boss who steals the show, getting his character’s mix of Judaism and insurance shmooze down pat to hysterical effect—it’s a pity Hamburg isn’t able to blend him into the picture more.