Along Came Polly (4 out of 5 stars)
Universal Pictures/ Release Date: June 8, 2004

Comedies hardly ever get a good review among the hoity-toity movie critics in newspapers and the like and this movie was no exception. But this movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller was a pleasant surprise.
Granted, the humour does resort to potty jokes quite a few times and there are the prerequisite jokes that completely fall flat. But Along Came Polly is actually quite funny and charming.
Stiller plays Reuben, a risk-assessment analyst for an insurance company who catches his wife (Debra Messing) in bed with their scuba instructor (Hank Azria as a hilarious nude Frenchman—reason enough to see this flick) on their honeymoon. He decides to date a girl completely not his type, the flaky Polly (Aniston). Their relationship hits the ultimate rough patch when Reuben’s wife returns and Reuben freaks anti-commitment Polly out with talk of marriage.
Aniston is great as Polly, a little Rachel-ish perhaps, but not so much that it’s distracting. Stiller is his usual funny self and Phillip Seymour Hoffman has a great role as Reuben’s best friend, a child actor who hasn’t worked in decades but still thinks he’s a star.
The DVD features some good extras as well including deleted scenes, commentary and some uproarious outtakes and bloopers.
If you’re a fan of romantic-comedies you’ll love this film. If you’re not, you’ll probably still find it as funny as we did. Screw the critics; we give Along Came Polly two thumbs up!

50 First Dates (2 out of 5 stars)
Columbia Pictures/ Release Date: June 15, 2004
Nobody thought it was possible, but it looks like Adam Sandler is regressing. Yes, his humour does still wallow in the toilet in his new movie, 50 First Dates, but instead of getting older it looks like he is getting even younger. The jokes are missing some of the more risque elements usually present in his films, and he doesn't play as unstable a character as he usually does. Instead, Sandler is Dr. Henry Roth, a commitment-phobic veterinarian who lives on Oahu. He only dates tourists, and dumps them just before they leave. This way, he will not see the women again, and has no worries about entering into a long-term relationship. What else does this mean? A non-stop parade of cute animals (a penguin, a sea lion, dolphins) sure to please the kiddies.
This changes one day in a diner when he sees Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore). They hit it off, have a great time, and makes plans for the next day. Well, when they meet again the next day, she has no idea who he is. See, Lucy was in a car accident last year, and now she has no short-term memory. She believes that it is still that same day one year ago, and to avoid any sort of trauma, her family and friends all pretend it is that same day. So Lucy lives the same day over and over, unaware that a year has passed. Henry really falls for Lucy, so he decides to make her fall in love with him again, every single day, with varying results.
Barrymore and Sandler are trying to recapture the same chemistry they had in The Wedding Singer, oh so long ago. Like all Sandler films, there is an underlying heart amidst the stupid jokes, and like his other films, it does not feel right with the film.
There just isn't really a point for 50 First Dates. Yeah, it has a nominally cute concept, but director Peter Segal quickly wears the concept down with Sandler's ingratiating attempts to elicit sympathy from the audience. As a leading man in a romantic comedy, Sandler is just not up to the part. He doesn't have enough charisma, and the charisma he does have is not the type for a film like this. All Barrymore has to do is look cute, and she does okay at that. One has to give Sandler credit though; he's not as annoying as he usually is, just a little more boring.