When people regale each other with why Philip Seymour Hoffman was one of the most dynamic titans of acting in the past 35 years, his comedic prowess isn't usually brought up. We tend to think of him more for his bellowing fury and repressed sorrow, his endearing shlubbiness and elusive sense of decorum. He was one of the few actors who could conceivably be in almost any kind of film or role, ranging from the brash comic relief in Twister to the paragon of compromised principle in his Oscar-winning title performance as Truman Capote in Capote. He may have had a clear preference for high drama, but he consistently peppered his career with broadly comedic roles in films like Flawless and Charlie Wilson's War, but his greatest comedic turn was in Along Came Polly, stealing the whole film from the likes of Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston.
Hoffman Plays a Washed-Up Loser to Perfection
Along Came Polly is supposed to be a film about how Reuben (Stiller), an uptight risk assessment agent for an insurance company, falls for a bohemian free spirit named Polly (Aniston) when he's on the rebound after getting cheated on by his newly married wife, Lisa (Debra Messing). Everything about the film, from a narrative and genre standpoint, is the same rom-com trope you've seen countless times: opposites attracting and inevitably coming together, with the two lovers rubbing off on each other in more ways than one. It can still work well enough, but here it's bungled by fundamental casting errors, as Ben Stiller is far too believably pathetic, and Jennifer Aniston is laughably unbelievable as a glorified hippie, and the two are a complete nonstarter together. This is a film much more enjoyable when it focuses on literally any other character besides these two, be it Alec Baldwin's hysterical turn as Reuben's boss or Hank Azaria's cartoonish voice-actor expertise as the well-endowed French lover who steals Lisa away from Reuben. But standing head-and-shoulders above everybody else is Philip Seymour Hoffman as Reuben's inexplicable best friend, Sandy Lyle.
Sandy is the ultimate washed-up loser, a former child star who got hot after a popular teen movie (clearly modeled after The Breakfast Club based on the poster, which is one of the film's funniest visual gags) and flamed out spectacularly. He now rides high on his former glory while acting on the local theater circuit, where he carries himself like he's Kirk Lazarus and must constantly remind everyone of his prowess. Even off the stage, he has every stereotypical comic relief behavior known to humankind: brash, loud, gross, shockingly lacking in self-awareness, and a world-class klutz. Despite all of that, he's revealed to be a truly loyal and sensitive person who will bend over backwards for whoever's corner he decides to be in, no matter how inappropriately he tries to help them. Many of the best moments of the film come from that juxtaposition between the two extremes of Sandy's personality, as he single-handedly creates many of the best jokes courtesy of his full steam ahead antics, and Philip Seymour Hoffman sells all of them passionately.
Sandy's Forced Bravado Grounds His Character
The guiding principle underlying all of Sandy's behavior is his laughably inflated confidence in contrast with his incompetent composure, as he moves with the rhythm of a rusty wind-up toy that's held together by duct tape. Deep down, he knows what a lost cause he is, and so he drowns himself in a bravado that makes him infinitely more insufferable, but also makes his emotional plight feel more earned. This is best exemplified by perhaps the most famous scene from the film: the basketball scene, when he and Reuben play pick-up ball on a street court with two bigger dudes. Reuben didn't want to play, but Sandy forced the guys to play by trash-talking them and goading them on, oblivious to how much they both actually suck at the game. While this scene is most remembered for the infamous gag of Reuben getting slow-motion covered in sweat by the torso of his opponent (still so much grosser than it sounds), the real highlight is Sandy's supernova flameout as a hooper. It's especially painful if you're someone who actually appreciates the game, as his dribble form is atrocious, his shot form is all elbows, and he constantly demands the ball even when he's clearly not open. Best/worst of all, he must announce all of his shots with some of the most asinine statements imaginable, and you really haven't lived until you witness noted thespian Philip Seymour Hoffman shout "OLD SCHOOL" and "WHITE CHOCOLATE" at the top of his lungs, only to cut to the ball clanking off the backboard with a maximum amount of cosmic insult.
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That delusional confidence comes through in much smaller ways, as pretty much every Sandy scene has at least one moment that's totally blown up by his looking before he leaps. An early scene of the film is Sandy and Reuben going to a prestigious art gallery show, where Sandy loudly proclaims how horny he is in a crowded elevator, and then later "sharts" himself (I will not explain what that means). When he takes part in a local production of Jesus Christ Superstar, he's playing the role of Judas, but peaco*cks about how he should also play Jesus in a dual role performance, not once considering how literally impossible that would be and how disrespectful it is to all the other actors. For my money, the funniest instance is when Reuben and Sandy are having pizza and Reuben is hyping himself up for his first date with Polly. Sandy insists on giving him dating advice involving physical intimacy that definitely shouldn't be coming up on a first date, the whole time stealing Reuben's pizza slice so he can drizzle the grease onto his own piece. He doesn't even have the common courtesy of convincing Reuben that the date will go well, rubbing in his face that he thinks the date will go terribly (he turns out to be right, admittedly), but that he roots for Reuben anyway. It's the full Sandy experience in one dialogue exchange: presumptive insistence of superiority paired with a surprising level of emotional support, and it's a makeup that Hoffman underlines to make his character more than the stock comic relief.
Philip Seymour Hoffman Treated Sandy Like More Than Comic Relief
There's an adage that actors should treat comedy like drama if they want to be the most effective in the role, and Philip Seymour Hoffman's work in Along Came Polly fulfills that adage flawlessly. All he really wanted was a little honest validation, and seeing him get it at the climax of the film is genuinely the most emotionally rewarding moment in the whole film. Reuben has a big meeting about a client he wants to get insured, but he can't make it, so he has Sandy implausibly step in for him, pretending to be his associate representative. Sandy swings big, giving a self-indulgent and blustery speech about a client he knows almost nothing about, clearly uncomfortable in his suit and giving Any Given Sunday vibes at the end of his tirade. All seems lost, until one of the board members recognizes him as being from his teen movie and says that he gave a great presentation, and therefore got the guy insured. The outcome is ludicrous, but the payoff is worth it just to see the overwhelming gratification on Hoffman's face as he tries not to show that he's processing that someone finally recognized his talent in a meaningful (to him) way. It's the most honest moment of the whole film, and it only came about because Hoffman built Sandy as a real character free from shallow shtick and brought us into his full journey, making us wish we really could have seen him play Judas and Jesus at the same time. If anybody was a master at being both the best and worst that humanity had to offer, it was Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Along Came Polly is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
Along Came Polly
A buttoned-up newlywed finds his strictly organized life descend into chaos when he falls in love with an old classmate.
- Run Time
- 90 minutes
- Director
- John Hamburg
- Release Date
- January 16, 2004
- Actors
- Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing, Hank Azaria, Alec Baldwin
