"ALONG CAME POLLY"
(2004) (Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Mild	Heavy	None	None
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	None	Mild	Heavy
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Extreme	None	Mild	Mild	Mild

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QUICK TAKE:

Romantic Comedy: After his wife cheats on him on their honeymoon, a neurotic risk assessment analyst finds himself falling for a messy, carefree woman.

PLOT:

Reuben Feffer (BEN STILLER) is a senior risk assessment analyst for Indursky & Sons Insurance where he works for Stan Indursky (ALEC BALDWIN). Being an expert on lifestyles, he thinks he's made the right choice in marrying real estate agent Lisa Kramer (DEBRA MESSING). Yet when she cheats on him on their honeymoon with French scuba instructor Claude (HANK AZARIA), Reuben's carefully balanced life is turned upside down.

He decides to bury himself in his work that includes determining whether adventurous Australian businessman Leland Van Lew (BRYAN BROWN) is insurable or not. Reuben's best friend and former movie actor Sandy Lyle (PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN), however, thinks that Reuben needs to get back into the saddle right away.

Accordingly, they attend a party where Reuben runs into Polly Prince (JENNIFER ANISTON), a former middle school classmate who's working as a waitress. Despite the two being opposites, they're attracted to each other. From that point on, and with Lisa returning and asking for forgiveness, Reuben must decide whether he should play it safe with her or live on the wild, unpredictable and potentially risky side with Polly.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

If they're fans of anyone in the cast or romantic comedies, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13

For sexual content, language, crude humor and some drug references.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

BEN STILLER plays a slightly neurotic risk assessment analyst whose new bride cheats on him during their honeymoon. Spurred by the advice of Sandy, he quickly returns to the dating scene when he starts seeing Polly, with whom he has sex. He uses some profanity and must choose between her and Lisa.

JENNIFER ANISTON plays a carefree woman who dislikes order and anything that's boring, yet finds herself attracted to and has sex with Reuben. She uses some profanity.

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN plays Reuben's best friend, a former movie actor who tries to give him advice about romance.

DEBRA MESSING plays Reuben's new bride who cheats on him on the first day of their honeymoon, but then wants him back.

ALEC BALDWIN plays Reuben's boss, a middle-aged playboy businessman.

HANK AZARIA plays the French scuba instructor who has sex with Lisa and walks around the beach nude.

BRYAN BROWN plays an adventurous Australian businessman who wants Reuben's firm to insure him.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

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Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

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OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this romantic comedy that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 9 "s" words, while slang terms for sex, other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered.

Other sexually related dialogue is present, as are some sexual gestures, some "dirty dancing" and two partially seen sexual encounters (with movements and sounds). Some nonsexual nudity (men's bare butts, a partial view of a woman's bare breast from the side) occurs on a beach.

Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some crude bathroom humor is present. Some characters drink, one pops some pills and some slapstick style material occurs in several scenes, one with mildly bloody results.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

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ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

Stan leads a champagne toast at Reuben and Lisa's wedding reception.

Reuben carries a bottle of champagne.

Claude mentions that he and Lisa had wine.

Miscellaneous people have drinks at a party where Polly pours wine for others.

There's a possible drug reference.

Polly pours wine for others at an event.

Polly and Reuben have drinks.

Miscellaneous people have wine.

Stan takes some sort of pills while nervous.

BLOOD/GORE

Reuben accidentally drops Lisa to the floor while carrying her across their honeymoon threshold. We later see a large bruise on her thigh.

We see Stan and Reuben standing at office urinals and hear them urinating as well as Stan farting. Stan then tries to console Reuben, touching his ear (after urinating) and then slaps him on his clothed butt.

Sandy tells Reuben, "I just sharted." When Reuben doesn't know what that means, Sandy tells him he tried to fart "and sh*t came out." He then walks funny while trying to leave a party.

Reuben has to guard a sweaty, hairy guy while playing basketball. After wiping sweat from the ball, Reuben inadvertently has his entire face rub against the man's sweaty chest when the latter takes a jump shot. Reuben then shakes the sweat off his head and spits (all in slow motion).

We hear that Reuben has irritable bowel syndrome. We then see him and Polly eating spicy Moroccan food and see him sweating profusely from it. After some belching, he excuses himself to the men's room but finds the lone stall occupied by someone who states he's going to be there all night. We hear gastrointestinal sounds from Reuben and he asks Polly if he can use her bathroom when they return to her place. We then see several shots of him sitting on the toilet with accompanying farting and gastrointestinal sounds. When he's done, he realizes there isn't any toilet paper and ends up using a hand towel (we don't see the actual use) and tries to flush it, but it clogs the toilet that then overflows.

We see an illustration from a children's book that Polly has written that shows a fireworks injury depicting a boy with a severed arm (and a little bit of drawn blood - all played for laughs).

We hear the sound of Reuben vomiting and there's later talk of other unseen vomiting.

After Leland slams face-first into a wall playing racquetball, we see blood in his mouth. He then pulls out a tooth that, along with his fingers, has blood on it.

Reuben tells Polly not to eat some bar nuts due to people's unwashed bathroom fingers likely having been in them.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

Lisa cheats on Reuben with Claude on the first day of their honeymoon. He also cheats on her with Polly since they're still technically married.

Polly's blind ferret runs into a wall and later into a trash can (some viewers might not like that played for comedy).

Reuben's clueless mother refers to an Indian (from India) as a "Native American" and then talks to him as if he can't understand English.

Stan tells Reuben that he's going to Barbados with his mistress.

FRIGHTENING SCENES

None.

GUNS/WEAPONS

Polly has Reuben stab a large knife into some throw pillows as a form of release therapy.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "Funniest sh*t," "Oh sh*t," "Holy sh*t," "Sh*tty," "Horny," "Dude," "Slut," "Dime story hooker," "Modem scrotum," "Nuts" (crazy), "What the hell /is this/happened to you/does that mean?" "Douche bags," "Sasquatch," "Idiot," "Oh crap," "Blokes," "Freaking out," "Freak," "Get your ass over here," "Screw you," "Funny as hell," "Bitch," "Suck," "Loser," "You won't screw it up," "I can't friggin' believe this," "Let's not bull-crap each other," "You're G*ddamn right I am," "Bloody" and "Tough noogies."

Sandy tells Reuben, "I just sharted." When Reuben doesn't know what that means, Sandy tells him he tried to fart "and sh*t came out." He then walks funny while trying to leave a party.

As Polly bends over and her shirt rides up, we see a large tattoo on the small of her back.

We see graffiti on various walls in the city.

Leland does a base jump (running, jumping and parachuting) off the top of a city building and then lands hard in some trees (but is okay).

Polly wears a midriff-revealing top.

Polly wears a tight-fitting tank top to a salsa club where she does some "dirty dancing," salsa-style, with another man (close contact, hands running along bodies, etc.). There's more of that later in the film.

Polly has Reuben stab a large knife into some throw pillows as a form of release therapy.

JUMP SCENES

None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

A song played before a sex scene has the repeated lyric, "Let's do it again." Another song later repeats the lyric, "G*ddamn right."

PROFANITY

At least 9 "s" words, 4 slang terms for sex ("bone," "boned" and "screwed"), 7 hells, 3 asses, 3 craps, 2 damns, 1 S.O.B., 12 uses of "Oh my God," 5 each of "G-damn" and "Oh God" and 1 use each of "For Christ's sakes," "God," "Jesus Christ" and "Oh dear Lord."

SEX/NUDITY

Stan jokingly tells Lisa (at her and Reuben's wedding reception), "Don't tire him out too much" while rhythmically moving the microphone in and out of his hand (to symbolize intercourse).

We see various scantily clad women on the beach in St. Barts, including a topless woman from behind her (we briefly see part of the side of her bare breast as well as her bare back).

Lisa shows some cleavage on the beach in her bikini top.

We see a full nude rear shot of Claude (bare butt) as he walks up and chats with Reuben and Lisa (they see his frontal nudity) on a St. Barts beach. When he mentions some property across the way, Lisa says, "It's very big" while looking at his crotch (but talking about the property). We then see another full rear nude view of him as he walks off to talk to others on the beach.

We see Claude in a small swimsuit.

We see miscellaneous women in bikinis.

Reuben boards Claude's boat looking for him and Lisa. He then hears rhythmic sounds coming from down below. He then looks and sees a scuba flipper flapping against a pole, and then spots Claude on top of Lisa between her legs but under the covers.

Stan refers to Lisa as a "slut" and "dime story hooker."

Sandy comments about Lisa saying she had hot shallow sex with a French nudist. He then mentions that he's horny as he and Reuben attend a party.

Polly's friend, Roxanne, makes either a sex or male masturbation gesture with her hand and a baguette or similar narrow loaf of bread.

Reuben sarcastically informs Sandy that he (Reuben) isn't a virgin as Sandy gives him dating tips. Sandy then says that he likes to give his dates a spanking and then imitates doing so by saying, "I'm your daddy."

Polly shows some cleavage.

Polly wears a tight-fitting tank top to a salsa club where she does some "dirty dancing," salsa-style, with another man (close contact, hands running along bodies, etc.).

Polly and Reuben do some passionate kissing back at her place. She then excuses herself to use the bathroom and he sits on her bed, trying to figure out how open his shirt should be. She then returns, wearing the above tight tank top and small red shorts. She then climbs on top of him on her bed and he runs his hand down to her clothed rear (in close-up). After a brief pause of indecision, he spanks her once and they briefly discuss that before she climbs back on him. Moments later, we see him on top of her under the covers and hear him thinking that he can't be done yet and that he has to last at least until the count of 50. She's then on top and he tries to concentrate (we see his toes curled up while doing so). He's then back on top and yells out, "50!" when he climaxes (she's surprised by that and replies, "Yeah, 50!").

A song played at the beginning of that scene has the repeated lyric, "Let's do it again."

Later, Polly talks with her friend about Polly having sex with Reuben. She says that she didn't sleep with him for charity. Her friend sarcastically replies that Polly only did so because Reuben's wife "boned" some other guy on their honeymoon. The friend then says that it sounds like a "charity bone" and Polly wonders if the friend has to keep using the term "bone." Polly then asks her friend if she's ever heard a guy "shout out 50 when he orgasms" and the friend says she has.

Polly wears a sheer top (with a bra-like part) that shows some cleavage.

Polly and the above guy do more "dirty" salsa dancing, but when Reuben confronts the male dancer about such contact, the man tells Reuben that he's gay.

Reuben slaps Polly's clothed butt as they do some "dirty dancing" salsa moves that includes him running his hands along her clothed body and shaking his head in her cleavage.

Reuben confronts Lisa by saying that she "screwed" their scuba instructor on their honeymoon.

While posing as Reuben, Sandy talks about Leland and says, "He is sexually active in the community."

Polly shows some cleavage.

We briefly see a full rear nude shot of Reuben as he walks on the beach.

SMOKING

None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

Lisa cheats on Reuben with Claude on the first day of their honeymoon. She then tries to get back into his life and he must decide whether to accept her or not. He also cheats on her with Polly since they're still technically married.

Polly tells Reuben that her father had an entire second family on the side.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

People who avoid risks and those who take them.

How opposites often attract in a romantic sense.

VIOLENCE

Everything listed below is played for laughs.

Sandy slips on a recently polished floor and lands hard on it (but is okay).

Reuben accidentally drops Lisa to the floor while carrying her across their honeymoon threshold. We later see a large bruise on her thigh.

Reuben violently rushes Claude who grabs and then constrains him.

Reuben accidentally drives his rental car backwards through a fence.

Trying to stop his answering machine from alerting Polly about the number she's called, Reuben grabs the answering machine and wings it across the room where it smashes into a wall and breaks.

Polly's blind ferret runs into a wall and later into a trash can (some viewers might not like that played for comedy).

Leland does a base jump (running, jumping and parachuting) off the top of a city building and then lands hard in some trees (but is okay).

Polly has Reuben stab a large knife into some throw pillows as a form of release therapy.

After Leland slams face-first into a wall playing racquetball, we see blood in his mouth. He then pulls out a tooth that, along with his fingers, has blood on it.

Leland's boat crashes, but he, Reuben and Polly are fine.

Sandy briefly struggles with another actor on stage.

Reviewed January 13, 2004 / Posted January 16, 2004

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