Ben Stiller stars as Reuben Feffer, a phobia-ridden risk assessor for an insurance company. When his bride (Debra Messing of TV's "Will & Grace") jilts him for a buff French scuba-diving instructor (Hank Azaria) on their honeymoon in St. Barts, he returns to New York to moan and mope. Trying to cheer him up, his ex-movie-star buddy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) persuades him to attend an art exhibit opening, where he meets spontaneous, free-spirited Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston), who's works part-time on a catering crew. Actually, they knew each other back in the seventh grade. So could romance bloom between these awkward opposites?

Writer/director John Hamburg - with screenplay credits for "Meet the Parents" and "Zoolander" - obviously specializes in "embarrassing situational" comedy. Only this time, he has assembled what amounts to a tiresome gag reel - and, while it's crude, it's not convincing. Except for Rudolpho, Polly's nearly blind ferret. Otherwise, Hamburg ineptly flounders into Farrelly fun-flick "American Pie" territory. Playing a nerdy neurotic who is humiliated by bathroom humor is nothing new for Ben Stiller; it's his specialty. As for Jennifer Aniston, her comic timing is impeccable. With Bryan Brown and Alec Baldwin lending support, it's just a shame they have nothing fresh and funny to work with. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Along Came Polly" is flimsy, formulaic 5. It's amiable if not ambitious. But the draw here is Jennifer Aniston.