The problem with most romantic comedies is that they generally try too hard on the comedy front, leaving a relationship which can barely be called romantic. The farcical shenanigans of how to shuffle two people who hate each other into the same room and then make them fall in love, in a funny way, belies very little of the real experience of love. Along Came Polly, the Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston romcom is an exception to this. On paper there are plenty of lifestyle choices keeping the pair apart, but frankly very little on screen made-up farce to perpetuate this. This has the upshot of providing a film with is surprisingly romantic. Oh, but not very funny.
Noticing the lack of plot based yuks our writer/director desperately flicks through the back catalogue of both stars careers to see what he can throw at the screen to make us laugh. Pointless gross-out and animal injury for Ben Stiller – kooky indecision for Jennifer Aniston. Very few of the gags stick as it lurches from nice tentative romantic scene to the next via a gay misunderstanding or blocked toilet. You can’t hate a film where the denoument is the two leads merely agreeing to go on another date, but you can sue under the trade descriptions act.