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Along Came Polly
Universal Pictures


3.5

based on 35 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 29 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sexual content, language, crude humor and some drug references

Starring Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing, Alec Baldwin, Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown, and Jsu Garcia

Reuben (Stiller) has made a fine life and a good career out of playing it safe. Polly (Aniston) plays her life like a game of chance. So when a chance encounter reunites these childhood friends, Reuben finds his world turned upside down.

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	John Hamburg
DIRECTED BY:	John Hamburg
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 8, 2004 Video: June 8, 2004 Theatrical: January 16, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	90 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Its story is paint-by- numbers...But it's funny, and funny covers a lot of sins.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Is Along Came Polly a great film? No, probably not, but it is a very amusing one.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Along Came Polly is nothing if not a chick flick for guys.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

So familiar you may have moments of deja vu.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Polly works best when writer-director John Hamburg gets his mind out of the water closet, and it's in there about two-fifths of the way. The rest of the time, he's assembling a hit-and-miss comedy with reasonable numbers of laughs and lots of personality from its two leads.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

The best reason to see Along Came Polly is the supporting cast.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Has plenty of funny moments, but there's no chemistry between stars Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. It's hard to accept that these two characters are, or even could be, in love. So, while the film is pleasant and sporadically entertaining, it can't be considered an unequivocal success.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

[Hoffman] gives gross-out comedy a whole new depth.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

Hamburg's smartypants banter is a bit spotty, but the bathroom humor, of all things, hits the mark, and Stiller's trademark wide-eyed bafflement wins the day again.

Empire Caroline Westbrook

It’s not bad, but given all the talent involved, it would have been nice for Hamburg to push the envelope a bit further and deliver something with real bite. As it is, this is more of a pleasant, but forgettable, time-filler.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Remove the razzle-dazzle provided by Azaria, Hoffman, Baldwin, the gross jokes and that ferret, and you wind up with a pretty dull and ordinary face.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Something we've all seen before, far too many times, not only in its premise but also in its lame parade of scatological jokes and its sad, tired pratfalls.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

With a cast this gifted, some of the throwaway jokes stick, but when Along Came Polly goes for its biggest, grossest laughs, the strings show well in advance.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

There is no central drama, no surprise, no tension in his comedy. The ads for Along Came Polly make it look so upbeat and simple that you're convinced it must be hiding something, like death or a disease. But the truth is there in the advertising: nothing happens.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

There isn't a lot in the movie that is funny.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Firmly ensconced among the forgettables in Stiller's career, a generic romantic comedy of the one-from-column-A, one-from-column-B variety.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

Some movies run out of gas. This one could use an alternate fuel source.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Might be a lame, formulaic comedy, but it sets up entertaining sequences cleverly designed for the talents of three of its stars and has the good sense to get out of the way and let audiences enjoy their performances.

Variety Robert Koehler

Writer-director John Hamburg does everything he can to pair up Ben Stiller's stiff, safety-first corporate man with Jennifer Aniston's free spirit in Along Came Polly, but the two are so fundamentally incompatible that story loses credibility long before the gags stop coming.

USA Today Mike Clark

The civilized running time and breezy editing between scattershot plot threads keep the attention in a superficial way, and it would be misstating the case to deny that the movie has some chuckles (the kind that don't linger).

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Hampered by the kind of overacting that the cast seems to enjoy more than the audience.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

In the not-so-grand scheme of such things, Along Came Polly is certainly harmless, and occasionally very funny. It's just not clever enough to keep you engaged.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Stiller and Aniston have zero sexual chemistry. But they have impeccable comic chemistry in a movie that features some stellar bits of business.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Recycles gags from various, more successful gross-out and romantic comedies, but without any zest or imagination.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Largely innocuous and forgettable, Polly lacks "Mary's" romantic pathos and psychosexual anxiety and is a few squirmy set pieces shy of "Meet the Parents."

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

The film is sporadically amusing, especially early on. But as the gross-outs dwindle, one is left to contemplate if Stiller has always been this neckless and to wonder just why Aniston wastes her summer vacation on junk such as this.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

On paper it has every advantage, from gifted stars Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston to an established comedy writer-director with a promising idea about a romance between a carefree woman and a worried man. But instead of maximizing those pluses, Along Came Polly so completely fritters them away that even its brief 90 minutes feels unhappily long.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Something of a snooze.

Slate David Edelstein

The movie is a peculiar and unsatisfying hybrid--but above all it's a pedestal to its popular leading man, Ben Stiller.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

In this movie, when the honeymoon is over it's really over.

Film Threat Peter Lowry

The result was one of the worst films I've seen in a long, long time as this entire movie proved to me is that it's never too early to start the race for next year's Golden Razzies...

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

A romantic comedy whose no-holds-barred gross-out elements sour an already graceless mix of crude pratfalls and heartache.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

For everyone who's been waiting for a love story between an anal retentive and a flake.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

The spectacle of two mature stars forced to grovel in the bathroom for cheap laughs is pathetic.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Weak acting, even by Hoffman. Aniston is so far above this material she should never, ever have signed on.

The average user rating for this movie is 3.5 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Andy C gave it a10:
I loved this movie. Ben Stillers friend is absolutely hilarious and steals the show. I can see why people might have a problem with the ending if they don't understand how the insurance industry works. I really liked this movie, even though I thought I would hate it.

Pat C. gave it a 3:
A dumb-down for the ages. It had me on the edge of my seat thinking OK, now am I going to like this part. Almost clicked so many times, each one more exasperating than the last. One point for Bryan Brown as the only carbon-based life form in play, one point for Missy Pyle's bit part - she is such a natural for goofball roles, and I gotta give extra credit for the flippers. All in all, almost not a bad movie.

Darren C. gave it a 9:
This was the funniest movie dont listen to those stupid people they dont know a good movie when they see it.

Bob T gave it a 3:
I don't have high standards for romantic comedies, but the plot and humor were pretty thin. They had some funny moments, the scuba and bathroom scenes and the other ones in the trailer, but they are few and far between. There is no chemistry and all the relationship development between Stiller and Aniston was pretty lame.

Tex A. gave it a 1:
This only gets a 1 because of Hank Azaria's funny French accent. Otherwise, it sucked.

Patrick S. gave it a 10:
Though this movie had a few suprise twists, I still thought this Polly was one hilarious movie! When he's good, Mr. Stiller is very good indeed, and Along Came Polly stands with the best work he's done. It's fast-moving, unpredictable, and as tautly, tightly wound as comedies get. Stiller absolutely astounds as a risk management man with a fear of danger! He and Jennifer Aniston make such a sweet couple, they should get married! I know that ACP is the perfect summer movie for all ages!

Robert A. gave it a 4:
Funny thing i start at 100 when i grade movies. this movie slipped down pretty far from 100. by the time the movie was over my score was 40. and i just realize average critic grade is 40. this movie has some fun. but it then has other stuff that just doesn't fit. enjoyable if you let it. i did. but a 40 is as much as i can give it. rob.

Along Came Polly Universal Pictures

Along Came Polly
Universal Pictures