A Surprisingly Zestless Romantic Comedy, Along Came Polly Simmers.

The Good: Some very funny moments, Interesting characters
The Bad: Acting is derivative, Characters end up as types, Very predictable
The Basics: While not terrible, Along Came Polly is an ultimately underwhelming romantic comedy that can safely be skipped.


Last night my wife got to pick the movie we watched. She was still a little sore at me for the way Memento did not actually end and she decided to use her choice of movie night to share with me one of the few romantic comedies she enjoys. That took the form of Along Came Polly. My wife likes both Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston, so Along Came Polly was a pretty natural movie to appear in her permanent collection. Before we watched it, she defined the movie for me as her favorite film she ever picked up in Wal-Mart’s $5.00 bin. And after watching it with her, I can pretty much see why.

Along Came Polly is shockingly average and for one who is not a fan of romantic comedies, as my wife is (not, I am), I was surprised how painfully formulaic the movie was. Without even overanalyzing how predictable the initial events of the film were – i.e. the fact that Debra Messing who starts the film paired with Ben Stiller is not billed very high, making it obvious to anyone who has seen pretty much any movie that her character will make a quick exit - Along Came Polly is structured like a writing class project for the archetypal romantic comedy. All that shakes it up from being average is a few uncommonly humorous moments. Unfortunately, those moments are pretty equally balanced by the acting, which is in no way extraordinary, merely the performers playing within the bounds they have clearly established in other roles before this one.

Reuben Feffer is thrilled to marry his best friend, Lisa. On their honeymoon to St. Barts, however, Lisa has an affair with the scuba instructor, which Reuben walks in on. Returning to New York alone and looking toward a pretty bleak future moving into the house he bought for both of them, Reuben agrees to go out on a few dates, per his best friend’s recommendation. While at an art opening, they run into Polly Prince, a woman they knew in their childhood. Reuben decides to see who Polly has become since middle school and he asks her out.

Polly could not be more different than the insurance analyst. Reuben assesses risk for a living and he has trouble getting Polly to commit to eating a meal out more than a day in advance. When they go out for spicy food, Reuben ends up drenched in sweat and in an awkward bathroom situation. But, oddly, Polly remains strangely undeterred and they go dancing and have another dinner, which Reuben’s parents interrupt. As Reuben tries to assess the risk for a thrillseeking client, he and Polly get closer and the relationship seems to be heading in a direction that gives Reuben the potential to move on . . . until Lisa resurfaces!

Along Came Polly seems to be much more appreciated by the general populace based on the strength of the cast and it is hard to argue that Along Came Polly is not well-staffed. Led by Ben Stiller as Reuben, Along Came Polly balances Stiller with Jennifer Aniston (Polly) and features Debra Messing (Lisa), Alec Baldwin (Reuben’s boss, Stan), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Reuben’s best friend, Sandy), Hank Azaria (looking pretty cut, especially for a voice actor!), and several others in even more minor roles. Along Came Polly has a good cast and everyone who appears in the movie appears well-cast for the role that they are in.

In fact, that is one of the issues with Along Came Polly. The casting is entirely unimaginative for the roles. Ben Stiller, especially, suffers as Reuben because it is little more than a retread of the character he played in The Royal Tenenbaums. We get it, Stiller can do a balance of neurotic and deeply damaged. The problem with Stiller as Reuben in Along Came Polly is that he offers us nothing new (except a shot of his butt). Stiller did this role half a decade prior . . . what’s new?

As for the rest of the cast, it is fine, but similarly unremarkable. As the title role in Along Came Polly, Jennifer Aniston would seem to be a highlight, but her performance is surprisingly unmemorable. Aniston is upstaged in every scene she shares with her character’s blind ferret. Aniston is good at playing a free spirit, but for someone who is supposed to be living life in an exciting way, Polly is actually remarkably mundane. Sure, she salsa dances and eats spicy food, but those are really the only two risky behaviors we see her engage in, so she is not much of a contrast to Reuben. Aniston, for her part, does what she can with the role, but it’s not a spectacular role.

The supporting performances in Along Came Polly are equally average, with none of the other actors wowing viewers (though Bob Dishy’s part as Reuben’s father amused me). Moreover, Along Came Polly is almost painfully formulaic, which does not give viewers any real surprises that fit the film. As much as I wanted to like Along Came Polly, the structure of it was very basic, very direct and pretty much the literal rendering of a romantic comedy by the numbers, from the challenges to the relationship that arise to the sidekick best friend’s character arc.

What saves Along Came Polly from being considered completely mundane is the humor in the film. There are several funny lines in Along Came Polly, like the way Reuben seems fixated on the fact that Lisa and the scuba instructor kept their fins on while having sex. When Reuben’s father speaks, it is amusing and even Stiller’s dancing (which bears an uncomfortable resemblance to his physical comedy in Zoolander) is worthy of a chuckle. But not all of the humor works for Along Came Polly. When Reuben is playing basketball and his face essentially acts as a squeegee for a bare-chested man’s sweat, the gag – in addition to being absolutely gross – feels distractingly generic. It is a gag that could have been done in virtually any movie for the same effect; it does not actually reflect much on Reuben’s character to not want to swallow the man’s sweat.

In the end, Along Came Polly is a simple, standard romantic comedy that lacks the “wow” factor to be truly enduring and, as a result, ends up in the lower ranges of what I consider an “average” film.

For other works with Masi Oka, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Friends With Benefits
Fired Up!
Get Smart
Heroes

4.5/10

Check out how this movie stacks up against others I have reviewed by visiting my Movie Review Index Page where the reviews are organized from best to worst film!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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You Can Love The Ladies, But The Women Still Has Drastically Mixed Messages.

The Good: Decent acting, DVD bonus features, Message
The Bad: Aimless plot, Unlikable characters, Simplistic resolutions and arcs
The Basics: In another remarkably average "chick flick," a woman left by her philandering husband learns to stand on her own two feet with the help of her closest friends.


Early in my relationship with my wife, I was given a lot of information which I quickly assimilated. One of the things I learned right off the bat was that she had a particular loathing for "chick flicks." So when, last New Year's Eve, she was raving to me about the chick flick she was watching, I was instantly intrigued. What film could be so great as to completely upset her prejudice against the entire genre? Well, it was The Women and until she came into my life, everything I had heard about the film was homogeneously bad. So, when we were taking a night away from my Best Picture project (check that out here!), I was surprised when the film she truly wanted to see was The Women. She was so eager to share it with me and given that I had subjected to many films that she had had no interest in seeing, I felt it was the least I could do.

Unfortunately, while there were elements to admire in The Women there were sufficient problems with it to leave me feeling disappointed in the movie. The Women is a remake of a film by the same name and the first element to praise about it is also the first gripe about it. The entire cast of the film is made up of women; there is not a single man in the entire film. The concept of this is wonderful . . . until one considers that the characters are walking around the city of New York. New York City has men in it and even in places like Sak's Fifth Avenue, one is likely to see men, even if they are just being tugged along by their shopping women. As well, the "woman power" ideal of casting only women for the film is completely undermined when the credits roll and it is clear director Diane English was not able to get all of the production work done using only y-chromosome free help. As well, The Women uses far too many stereotypes about women and while there is a decent amount of character development throughout the movie, some of the elements are disappointingly stereotypical as opposed to genuine.

Mary Haines works for her father, making clothes she would never wear, while married to a famous stockbroker whom she seldom sees. Her best friend, Sylvia, a magazine editor, is getting her nails done when the beautician mentions in smalltalk that her friend is having an affair with Steven Haines. Sylvia opts not to tell her friend and instead tries to figure out what to do next, confiding only in their mutual friend Edie. Following a soiree at which Mary, Sylvia, Edie and Alex (the token black and lesbian of the bunch) network, Mary is fired by her father and she soon discovers her husband's infidelity (ironically the same way Sylvia learned of it). Separating from her husband, Mary and her daughter struggle to find their place. This is made even more difficult for Mary by the fact that Sylvia - in an attempt to keep her own job - confirms a story about Steven's mistress to a gossip magazine.

As Mary attempts to launch her own clothing line, the strain of not having Sylvia in her life builds. At the same time, Sylvia experiences pressure from work and actually takes on something of a mentor role to Mary's daughter. As the unveiling of her line of clothes nears, Mary has to choose whom to forgive and whom to cut out of her life.

There is strangely little ambiguity in The Women; the film mostly just reinforces that there are all different types of women, just as there are all different types of men and people of different ethnicities. Yes, "people are people" seems to be the enduring message of this film, even if they are all women. Not all women are victims, women who have been cheated on get over it and women do their fair share of cheating on men, too. These are all pretty obvious and The Women does not add anything new to the concept. This is also why I am so down on the film.

The Women has ample opportunity to make a statement, to say something about women and how they treat one another and what makes women great. Instead, more often than not, the movie reinforces the Hollywood (and male) ideal of woman. So, while Mary insists that her daughter does not need to go on a diet, she is thin enough, the film reinforces the ideal that, well, thin is ideal. There's not a big woman in the film, they all look Hollywood beautiful. The closest exception is Bette Midler and she's accepted in Hollywood because she is a diva and at her age, she can get away with it. While The Women is decent about including a wide variety of age ranges for the women - Cloris Leachman, Bette Midler and Candice Bergen work alongside the younger cast of Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith and Eva Mendes - Diane English is not so charitable to women who are not below size ten. Nowhere is this more clear than when Mary's clothing line is revealed. Mary utilizes the typical skinny models . . . what does that say to her daughter, who is in attendance? Moreover, the clothes she designs are equally as impractical as the idealized women who are modeling them.

The Women is a comedy and most of the humor is derived from situations and a sense of over-the-top outrage to them. So, for example, when Mary learns of her husband's affair the four women present begin talking over one another and Mary's whole part is to look exasperated and react. I don't, actually, recall laughing once, though I know I smiled.

The Women has a strong cast, with the likes of Meg Ryan (Mary) and Annette Bening (Sylvia) leading them, but there is no standout performance that makes the viewer feel like they are seeing something new from any of the actresses. So, for example, having only seen a few episodes of Will & Grace, Debra Messing's idea of comedy where she bugs her eyes out and looks frazzled was utterly unimpressive to me; like Meg Ryan playing a generally strong female protagonist, this was nothing new.

On DVD, there are two deleted scenes, a commentary track and a featurette comparing this new version to the original. But none of these are enough to make me recommend the film or truly see the spark that excited my partner so much about this movie. As one who sees a lot of films, this was, at best, average.

For other “chick flicks” be sure to visit my reviews of:
Ghost Of Girlfriends Past
Easy A
Dear John

5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Television Flop Ned And Stacey Makes A DVD Flop!

The Good: Inexpensive, Moments of delightfully cruel humor
The Bad: Mostly not funny, Unlikable characters, Mediocre (at best) acting, Predictable.
The Basics: Despite a pretty decent cast, Ned And Stacey - The Complete First Season is just another baffling DVD release of a mediocre comedy that is more cruel than funny.


Some things take fortitude, time and a sense that it's worthwhile to review a product. And then there are those of us who will suffer through miserable products just to review something. It was with that sense that I picked up and watched Ned And Stacey - The Complete First Season on DVD.

As part of FOX's seemingly endless attempt to find programs that could hold an audience like Married . . . With Children and The Simpsons, it created Ned And Stacey a typical situation comedy that does what few other series's before or since have managed to do quite a well; it shows that even with a talented cast, you can make a terrible show. Even with Greg Germann, Thomas Hayden Church, and a very young looking Debra Messing, Ned And Stacey is just plain terrible.

Ned Dorsey is trudging through his job desperate to find a way to get ahead when he realizes that most people who are married get the promotions that he feels he deserves. Stacey Dorsey is a journalist who is desperate to move out of her parents' house and when she sees Ned's apartment, she falls in love with the flat. Despite the fact that the two cannot stand one another, they see a union between them as the best possible way to achieve their goals, so they marry. Stacey gets out of her parents' house and Ned begins to get ahead at work.

What follows is their adventures as they navigate keeping up the appearance of being married while they strive to achieve their goals and find people better than their legal spouse to be with. Ned spends much of his time with his best friend and (as luck would have it, suddenly his) brother-in-law, Rico. Eric (who Ned refers to by the nickname) is married to Amanda, Stacey's sister and best friend. Things get complicated for the quartet because Amanda loathes Ned and this often leads the two to openly fight with one another.

And while the concept may seem momentarily interesting, it soon falls into the habits of the standard sitcom and the concept drives many of the plots. So, as a result, there are episodes where Ned and Stacey relay fake wedding stories, cheat on one another (they are legally married, so when one seeks sex elsewhere, technically it is cheating despite it being a loveless arrangement), and buy a bed together. Ned usurps Stacey's job prospects by being more talented than her in her field. And, of course, misunderstandings arise among friends and acquaintances, like a client thinking Ned is gay when he realizes Ned and Stacey do not share a bedroom.

Yes, it's pretty standard FOX marital material. There's an unhappy couple, lots of sarcasm (recalling of course that sarcasm is different from irony or being facetious because the intent is to hurt another), a laugh track that telegraphs everything and situations that pretty much write their own solutions. But mostly, it's just a collection of four people being mean to one another. Granted, Ned is the most consistently cruel, but the premise sets itself up to alternate between being unkind (at best) to one another or outright, shamefully mean to each other. Life is too short to watch on television what exists far too often in reality and here it is so contrived as to be laughable that the project ever received a green light.

After sitting and watching all twenty-four episodes, I'm at a loss to say what I actually watched. The comedy was so standard that the show repeats itself and uses the reverse premise to fill episodes. So, for example, it does not take long before the sham marriage begins to wear on Stacey and she meets a nice guy who she would like to be with. So, she has a minor dilemma about cheating on her husband (in-name-only). A few episodes later, Ned realizes he might be able to get ahead by cheating on Stacey and sleeping his way to the top. And a few episodes after that, Stacey meets another guy . . . The point is, the plot is so predictable and it was obvious that the series had to go there at some point. It would be utterly ridiculous to think that Ned and Stacey would loathe one another and NOT look for companionship outside their "marriage," but how quickly the series got to the point that they used the plot and how many times they reused it in just the first season is disappointing at best, baffling at worst.

Of course, decent characters can save even a lame-concept sitcom. Unfortunately for Ned And Stacey, this series does not even have that. The quartet of regulars in the first season includes:

Ned - A raging egomaniac with a mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, he defines self-centered. With his dry wit and underlying meanness, he makes little effort to understand Stacey and her problems and shows little compassion for his best friend, as well. He does manage to have moments of softness, but they usually end in a punchline and no genuine sense that he had grown,

Stacey - Ned's hot wife who wanted nothing more than to get out of her parents' house and ended up married to Ned, whom she does not love. She has some talent for journalism (she has a degree in it), and is as optimistic as Ned is cynical. Her sister is her best friend and she spends as much time with her to avoid Ned as possible,

Amanda - Stacey's sister, Eric's husband, she hates Ned and does what she can to sabotage the relationships between Ned and Stacey and Ned and Eric. Often, she exerts a strong pull on Eric to get him to avoid Ned. She is a real estate agent and spends much of her time angry,

and Eric - Amanda's husband, "Rico" to Ned, he is a mild-mannered guy who is walked on by Ned and Amanda. He is an accountant at the advertising firm he and Ned work at and he's pretty bland. What drives him and Ned together is never entirely clear.

The problem with the characters, in addition to being blandly written "types" is that they do not come alive and they do not challenge the actors portraying them. So, for example, Greg Germann, who was just great on Ally McBeal as Fish, plays Eric as a browbeaten guy with no real differentiation between him and the similar character he played on the first season of Ellen. In other words, we've seen it from him before.

Debra Messing is all right as Stacey, though she seems to rely more on her looks and innate cheerfulness to get her through than anything particularly compelling in her performance. Indeed, the opening bit where she and Thomas Hayden Church, in character, lay out the premise to the show illustrates the entirety of the range she utilizes on this series. She has a niche and she works that rut for all its worth.

But the real disappointment for me is Thomas Hayden Church. I like him a great deal and I've enjoyed him in many things. He was underutilized and CG-ed out for much of Spider-man 3 (reviewed here!) and I remember feeling that was a grave disappointment. The problem is that here he has one schtick; a deadpan, dead-eyed sarcasm that he plays with a consistency that borders on monotony. He has the capacity to do so much more and here his talents are wasted as an offensive jerk with no real redeeming qualities.

Ned And Stacey - The Complete First Season on DVD is as baffling to me as the motivation between releasing Dharma & Greg - Season 1 to the permanent medium. Was this just a desperate attempt to try to cash in while Thomas Hayden Church was performing in one of the biggest films of the year? Was it an attempt to synergize with Debra Messing's Will & Grace DVD releases? Who knows? What I can say is that all 24 episodes of the first season look and sound good on the three disc set. There is a commentary track on the pilot episode (by the creator of the series) and there is a decent-sized featurette that includes participation from most of the cast. Indeed, given that there is not much one can do with sitcoms in terms of DVD bonus features, this ends up being surprisingly adequate for the DVD release and sucks it up just enough to save it from complete and utter panning.

But it's not enough to even come close enough to recommending this. It's insulting to the intelligence of viewers and it is insulting to the characters in a way that suggests a sickness to enjoy watching it performed. Fortunately, the participants in it all went on to do other things that redeemed them for this grave cinematic injustice.

For other shows that originally aired on FOX, please check out my reviews of:
Family Guy Presents: It’s A Trap!
Glee - Season Two, Volume One
Fringe - Season Two
Arrested Development
Wonderfalls
Firefly
The Lone Gunmen
Millennium
VR.5
The X-Files
The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.

3.5/10

For other television reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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