Luke’s Favorite Films Take Two: #88

#88: Along Came Polly (2004)

Director: John Hamburg
Starring: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston and Philip Seymour Hoffman
Plot: “A buttoned up newlywed finds his too organized life falling into chaos when he falls in love with an old classmate.”
Stock: Holding
Previous Ranking: #86

“He’s a sexy guy. He’s sexy. He’s sexually active in his community.”

While the previous two movies were absent the first time this list was created in 2011, Along Came Polly is a repeat offender. In these situations I will post the original material (cleaned up a bit for your benefit) with an UPDATE section. Enjoy.

A movie I stumbled upon on the USA channel one afternoon eight years ago, Along Came Polly makes the top-100 thanks to some Ben Stiller wackiness, a little bit of Jennifer Aniston hotness, and a whole lot of Phillip Seymour Hoffman hilariousness.

Playing Ben Stiller’s best-friend, Sandy Lyle, Hoffman steals every scene he is in. If I were ranking my top 100 movie characters (which is a great idea by the way), Sandy Lyle would be much closer to the top-10. Lest I forget Alec Baldwin’s performance as well, and you have a couple supporting actors creating all the memorable scenes. Good things.

The plot is fairly simple and straight-forward, a guy (Stiller) gets married, quickly gets a divorce, and falls for another girl. The premise sounds over-done but the execution is what makes Along Came Polly unique.

UPDATE

When Hoffman passed away back in February of 2014, the first thing I thought of was Along Came Polly. That’s how good he is as Sandy Lyle. Without that performance, this movie doesn’t even come close to sniffing this list. Yes it’s near the bottom again, but it’s here nonetheless, and that’s the important part.

Fun Fact: Ben Stiller mentioned while on a talk show promoting the film that the ferret bit him a couple of times during production, including one time latching onto his chin.

Hint for #87: Russell Crowe beats people up … legally.

Peace Be The Journey.