Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Valentine's Day Movie #2: Along Came Polly (2004) - Star energy and laughs aplenty in Hamburg's underrated romcom

2/14/2021

Valentine's Day Movie #2: Along Came Polly (2004) - Star energy and laughs aplenty in Hamburg's underrated romcom

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best New York Movie of the Year + Best Romcom of the Year

A nice walk in the park for two of cinema's most popular stars at its time makes up this poster for John Hamburg's Along Came Polly

Following a shocking affair between his wife and a scuba instructor on their honeymoon, wounded insurance expert Reuben Feffer meets the free-spirited Polly, whom he used to go to school with, and with her a new and more genuine kind of love forms...

Along Came Polly is written and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker John Hamburg (Safe Men (1998)).

It is an outrageously cheerful comedy in the vein of Meet the Parents (2000), which Hamburg co-wrote, but it is without that film's cringe-worthy, heavy parental dimension. Along Came Polly is a lovely mix of a Farrelly Brothers-like tendency for exaggeration, irresistible stars and real sweetness. Ben Stiller (There's Something About Mary (1998)) is extremely funny here, - his salsa-dancing scenes are hysterical, - and Jennifer Aniston (Office Space (1999)) is just as A+. Debra Messing (The Women (2008)) is good as the cheating wife; Philip Seymour Hoffman (Love Liza (2002)) and Alec Baldwin (The Aviator (2004)) are hilarious in more outré supporting parts, and Bryan Brown (Newsfront (1978)) is ideal as an Australian businessman.

Along Came Polly is a kind of film that felt like a pretty normal occurrence at its arrival 17 years ago, but which certainly isn't anymore. And I miss a film like this: A great, very funny romantic comedy.

Previous Valentine's Day movie: As Good as It Gets (1997) - Nicholson makes incredible character journey stick in great audience favorite

John Hamburg: I Love You, Man (2009) - Rudd, Segel and others achieve laughs aplenty in Hamburg's feel-good bromance (co-writer/director)

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Meet the Parents (2000) - Roach, Stiller, De Niro and Co. make comedy gold (co-writer)

Watch a 3-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 42 mil. $

Box office: 178.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.24 times its cost)

[Along Came Polly premiered 12 January (USA) and runs 90 minutes. Aniston was paid 5 mil. $ for her performance. Shooting took place from November 2002 - February 2003 in Hawaii, Los Angeles, California and in New York. The film opened #1 to a 27.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it retained #1 for another weekend and stayed in the top 5 for another 3 weekends (#2-#3-#4) and grossed 88 mil. $ (49.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 15 mil. $ (8.4 %) and Germany with 12.4 mil. $ (7 %). Hamburg returned with Stella (2005, TV-series), Welcome to the Captain (2008, TV-series) and theatrically with I Love You, Man (2009). Stiller returned in King of the Hill (2004, TV-series) and theatrically in Starsky & Hutch (2004); Aniston in Friends (1994-04) and theatrically in Derailed (2005). Along Came Polly is rotten at 27 % with a 4.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Along Came Polly?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

2/14/2021

Valentine's Day Movie #2: Along Came Polly (2004) - Star energy and laughs aplenty in Hamburg's underrated romcom

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

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