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情場算死草
ALONG CAME POLLY

故事大綱
魯賓(班史迪拿飾演)是保險公司的風險測量師，專幫客人減低投資風險，同他的做人原則一樣，凡事都要算到足，至緊要穩陣。可惜，他算錯了一條感情數，千計萬計的筍老婆，竟然在度密月時與潛水教練潛出軌！大受打擊的魯賓發誓以後更要算到盡，不容許再次「損手」。

此時，魯賓在派對上，重遇舊同學寶莉(珍妮花安妮絲頓飾演)。魯賓心想，這個他從中一便認識的純真可人兒，正是最有保障的婚姻對象，遂馬上進行追女行動。

只是當年的乖乖女，今日不但愛紋身、無辣不歡，更沉迷於熱情如火的莎莎舞，更令人意想不到的是，寶莉的人生變得浪蕩無定向，轉工、搬屋、換畫，樣樣隨心所欲，只掛住遊戲人間，未來一片空白，令魯賓這項愛情投資「大失預算」……

製作花絮
《非常外父揀女婿》班底　再創搞笑奇蹟
全球勁收３億３千萬美元的《非常外父揀女婿》令編劇約翰漢堡一炮而紅，今次他自編自導，並找回老拍檔班史迪拿當主角，實行再創喜劇新經典。原來早於漢堡首部自編自導笑片《Safe Men》在辛丹斯影展首映時，兩位銳不可當的喜劇奇才經已碰面，想不到他們馬上擦出創作火花。漢堡的《非常外父揀女婿》奠定了班的喜劇巨星地位；接著，班自導自演的《非常索凸務》亦是由漢堡編劇，同樣賣個滿堂紅。

今回第３次合作輪到漢堡自導自演，他說：「班是最適合演魯賓的人，因為他實在是一個超級演員。雖然這是一部喜劇，但當中有很多充滿人情、痛苦、掙扎的情節。我的喜劇是在真實生活發生的，讓觀眾能代入主角的位置…而班有其平凡人的特質，容易令人信服及代入他的處境。」

而班亦深信拍喜劇最重要是編導是值得他信任的人：「搞笑位是要看觀眾的反映才知道是否成功，所以一定要找個你有信心的人去夾笑料。在拍攝現場我同漢堡成日不約而同地對同一件事大笑一餐，我想他是令我合作得最舒服的編導。」

畢嫂安妮絲頓撐場　丹尼狄維圖監製
至於女主角，導演則找來以電視劇《老友記》及「畢彼特太太」身分聞名的珍妮花安妮絲頓擔演。導演表示選珍妮花有３大原因：「一、我是《老友記》Fan屎；二、她在《上班一條蟲》(Office Space)及《好女孩》(The Good Girl)中表現出色；三、我跟她見面後，直覺她與班會很合拍，會刺激班的喜劇細胞。」其實，珍妮花與班以前亦在電視箱多次碰頭。珍妮花在未走紅前曾是《The Ben Stiller Show》的座上客，而班則於幾季前以客串形式演出過《老友記》。班坦言很享受與珍妮花合作的時間：「她在現場時很投入，會給人即時反應。不用多講，她又風趣、魅力四射又可愛，我想，她簡直就是完美的女人！」

除了與導演漢堡及珍妮花再度合作之外，由出道開始一直支持班的丹尼狄維圖(Danny DeVito)今次亦以自己公司Jersey Films的名義落重本投資。狄維圖不但是班首部導演作《不朽真情》(Reality Bites)的監製，亦是班近作《複式2人世界》的導演。至於今次再度合作，狄維圖笑言，睇好的不止是班，還有導演漢堡的喜劇才華。

強勁配角陣容
有兩大一線紅人做主角之外，片中其他演員的名字亦個個響噹噹。《珍珠港》、《State and Main》艾力寶雲(Alec Baldwin) 扮演魯賓(那「講�洐籪g大腦」的上司；《不日成名》、《心計》菲臘西摩荷夫曼 (Philip Seymour Hoffman)演魯賓的騎呢死黨；《荷里活大結局》、《追命謊言》狄寶娜美臣(Debra Messing)演魯賓前新娘子；《大班》拜仁布朗(Bryan Brown)演澳洲企業家等。對於多位演技強人參演，導演大為感激：「真的很好彩，好像艾力寶雲、拜仁布朗等，他們都是做慣主角的巨星，但都肯撥出檔期在片中演配角。」更重要的是，這班演員都是按戲分收費，才令影片得以應付如此重量級卡士。

洛杉磯市中心　拍攝高危「跳樓」場面
笑料十足，愛情線動人，想不到片中魯賓的一個大客戶──由拜仁布朗飾演的億萬富豪，還引發出一連串驚險動作場面。這個找魯賓為他公司評估上市風險的企業家，平日竟以高危遊戲自娛，除跳傘由高空墮下之餘，他還參加了海上「死亡賽事，越洋挑戰」。結果，動作演員代替老牌影星布朗，由洛杉磯樓高570呎的AT&T電訊大廈跳傘而下。由於拍攝是在星期日的市中心進行，替身一定要一次過完成這高難度動作，這也代表只有一次拍攝的機會。導演漢堡於是出動了十台攝影機，從多個角度捕捉了這只有30秒的生死一刻。

結果，影片由2002年11月起開拍，至2003年2月期間，在洛杉磯市中心、紐約街頭及錄影廠等地順利完成所有拍攝工作。

演員及導演簡介
新一代喜劇之王──班史迪拿
憑《情迷索瑪莉》、《非常外父揀女婿》及《癲才家族》爆笑出位，贏得「新一代喜劇之王」美譽的班史迪拿(Ben Stiller)，氣勢愈來愈勁，繼近作《複式2人世界》(Duplex)之後，踏入04年，即有３大猛片出爐，除本片打頭炮於年頭開畫之外，與奧雲韋信(Owen Wilson)再度碰頭的警匪笑片《Starsky & Hutch》，以及由巴利里雲遜(Barry Levinson)導演的鬥智片《Envy》均陸續公映。班的搞笑技倆肯定再創熱門話題。

繼承了喜劇演員父母謝利史迪拿(Jerry Stiller)及安梅拉(Anne Meara)的演藝才華，班自小便流著電影人的血，十歲就拿起８米釐攝影機拍短片，長大後入讀洛杉磯加州大學的電影系，並隨即獲首個演出機會，參演了史匹堡的《太陽帝國》(Empire of the Sun)。為了全力進軍影視圈，班不惜半途退學，一邊演出電影，一邊拍自己創作的搞笑短片，包括玩串湯告魯斯《金錢本色》的《The Hustler of Money》。結果，他很快就獲得編寫及演出人氣電視節目《Saturday Night Live》的機會，之後更擁有個人節目《The Ben Stiller Show》。這個由他一手包辦的個人騷好評如潮，更贏得艾美獎最出色喜劇創作獎，最近還推出了DVD版。至今，班依然愛扮靚佬湯，2000年就在MTV電影頒獎禮上拍了一段搞笑版《職業特工隊》──《Mission: Improbable》，由班演繹Tom Crooze一角。而湯亦因為班扮相出色而跟他成為好友。

1994年，班執導了首齣電影《不朽真情》(Reality Bites)。這部由他和雲露娜賴德(Winona Ryder)及伊雲鶴堅(Ethan Hawke)合演的青春片，成為一時經典，證明了班導、演才華俱備。之後，他又執導了占基利的《衰鬼線人》(Cable Guy)及自導自演了《非常索凸務》(Zoolander)。近年，班的製作公司Red Hour Films更積極投資監製喜劇，包括本片及新作《Starsky & Hutch》。

幕前演出方面，除了《情迷索瑪莉》、《非常外父揀女婿》之外，班其他賣座作還有《男人愛美神》(Keeping the Faith)、《神奇七壯士》(Mystery Men)、《邊個同佢有親》(Flirting with Disaster)等。

愛情大贏家──畢嫂珍妮花安妮絲頓
珍妮花安妮絲頓(Jennifer Aniston)──男人傾慕，女人羡慕。她的丈夫是影壇一線靚仔紅人畢彼特；她主演的電視劇《老友記》(Friends)贏盡民心，欲罷不能，今年已踏入第十個年頭，即使片酬叫至一百萬美金一集，觀眾渴「睇」又賣得，電視台只能就範。有型老公、有代表作、有錢又有美色，難怪珍妮花一直是頭條新聞人物、全球焦點。

1969年於加州出生的珍妮花是半個希臘人，來自演藝家庭，父親尊安尼斯頓是電視劇名演員，已故的老牌影星Telly Savalas是她契爺。但珍妮花小時候卻鍾情於美術，她11歲時的畫作更曾在「紐約都會美術博物館」展出。直至1987年在「紐約演藝中學」完成學業後，珍妮花才立志成為演員，自此在舞台劇及電視劇演出。

1994年，她被邀試鏡，扮演《老友記》裡的Monica，但珍妮花卻堅持要挑戰咖啡店女侍應Rachel一角，結果，這個決定讓她的事業踏上頂峰。Rachel不但成為六位「老友」中最受歡迎的角色，也令珍妮花一劇成名，就連她在劇中的髮型亦一度令不少美國女士效法，掀起Rachel's Hairstyle、Rachel Look熱潮。而珍妮花亦憑此劇分別於2002及2003年獲得艾美獎及金球獎（喜劇組）最佳女主角，另外，亦三度獲People's Choice Awards喜劇組最佳女主角獎、兩度獲艾美獎提名最佳女配角、兩度獲演員工會提名（喜劇組）最佳女主角等等。

銀幕上，珍妮花亦是愛情喜劇甜姐兒，早前曾與占基利合演了賣座作《衰鬼上帝》(Bruce Almighty)，其他作品還包括《猜心遊戲》(She's the One)、《好女孩》(The Good Girl)、《搖滾巨星》(Rock Star)、《上班一條蟲》(Office Space) 、《情人看招》(Dream for an Insomniac)、《純屬虛構》(Picture Perfect)等等。

珍妮花與丈夫畢彼特現居於比華利山自置的一萬四千呎大屋。

喜劇編導新星　約翰漢堡
現年34歲的約翰漢堡(John Hamburg)乃當今荷里活喜劇界的新彗星，2000年由他編劇的《非常外父揀女婿》瘋魔世界，全球勁收超過３億３千萬美元，翌年編寫的《非常索凸務》全球亦總收逾５千５百萬美元。兩片盡顯漢堡的創作才華，亦把主角班史迪拿捧為新一代喜劇之王。

於紐約出生及長大的漢堡，中學時已開始自拍短片，大學時主修電影製作及編劇，隨後於紐約大學著名的Tisch藝術學院進修，期間編導的短片《Tick》，在辛丹斯影展首映，讓他初賞評論界及觀眾的賞識。1998年，他自編自導了首部電影《Safe Men》。這部低成本獨立製作的笑片同樣得以在辛丹斯影展首映，並贏得一致好評，漢堡自此冒出頭來，馬上獲得合編《非常外父揀女婿》的機會，並因此跟主角班史迪拿擦出「笑」火花。兩人接著合拍的《非常索凸務》，由漢堡編劇、班執導兼主演，同樣叫好叫座。兩人繼而乘勝追擊，合拍了《情場算死草》，而今次則由漢堡包辦編導。本片乃其第二部導演作品。

Along Came Polly
情場算死草

Directed by
John Hamburg

Produced by
Danny Devito
Michael Shamberg
Stacey Sher

Starring
Ben Stiller
Jennifer Aniston

ALONG CAME POLLY

Production Information

Reuben Feffer (BEN STILLER) has made a fine life-and a good career-out of playing it safe. The star risk assessor for a leading insurance firm, Reuben is an expert on minimizing danger-nothing ventured, nothing lost.

Polly Prince (JENNIFER ANISTON) plays her life like a game of chance, taking joy from the serendipity that a rolling stone existence brings her. There's always another opportunity-a new job, yet another apartment in another city-should this one not work out. No biggie…next.

So when a chance meeting puts Reuben and Polly at the same party, the recently (and extremely) jilted Reuben decides that for once, chance may just be on his side. Dating Polly might be the answer to getting his life back on track-she's attractive, fresh, funny-and after all, the two knew each other in seventh grade, when they were both delegates in the Model U.N. together. Just how much can a person change?

Well, Polly probably didn't have tattoos in junior high. Or have a penchant for spicy food, steamy salsa dancing or collecting tokens from boyfriends past…like the near-blind ferret she picked up in Italy. And Reuben-his propensity to plan everything in his life may not have been as all-encompassing in middle school, nor his compulsion with living in the middle of the road as pronounced.

But even in the middle of the road, Reuben finds that there are bound to be bumps-like indigestible food, scary children's stories, sight-impaired house pets. Life is risky, and so is love…and with Polly along for the ride, could one expect (or enjoy) anything less?

Universal Pictures presents the latest project from acclaimed comic screenwriter JOHN HAMBURG (Meet the Parents, Zoolander and Safe Men)-Along Came Polly-with Hamburg assuming the roles of both screenwriter and director for the first time since his Sundance Film Festival debut and cult hit, Safe Men. Starring along with Stiller and Aniston are an all-star cast of supporting players, including PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN as Reuben's lifelong best friend, ex-teen movie star Sandy Lyle; DEBRA MESSING as Reuben's new ex-bride (sort of), Lisa Kramer; HANK AZARIA as the other (French)man, scuba instructor Claude; BRYAN BROWN as the adventurous Australian billionaire/entrepreneur Leland Van Lew; and ALEC BALDWIN as Stan Indursky, Reuben's wheeler-dealer boss. The film is produced by Jersey Films' (Erin Brockovich, Man on the Moon, Pulp Fiction) DANNY DeVITO, MICHAEL SHAMBERG and STACEY SHER. Executive-producing are JANE BARTELME (Bringing Down the House) and DAN LEVINE (Camp).

Top-notch production talent includes director of photography SEAMUS McGARVEY, B.S.C. (The Hours), production designer ANDREW LAWS (Down With Love), editors WILLIAM KERR (Undercover Brother) and NICK MOORE (Love Actually), music supervisor RANDALL POSTER (The School of Rock) and composer THEODORE SHAPIRO (Old School).

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

For screenwriter/director John Hamburg-whose way with comic characters, funny dialogue and hilarious/embarrassing (and sometime raucous) scenarios had made hits out of the previous films of his co-written screenplays Meet the Parents and Zoolander-the character of Reuben Feffer, the risk-shy risk analyst of Along Came Polly, had almost become an unwelcome visitor before he ever made it to the page. Months before Hamburg had begun actually writing his latest screenplay, the characters of Reuben and those in his world had been increasingly occupying the writer's mind.

Hamburg remembers, "With this movie, I was thinking about a guy who planned out his entire life, and then what would be the worst thing that could happen to him? And I thought that it would be the woman he is ready to spend the rest of his life with leaving him on his honeymoon. Now, he's got to start over-so what's the next best/worst thing that could happen? He meets a girl that he thinks he can connect with, and she turns out to be the least committal person ever. And the whole film just grew from there."

As with his previous comic character-driven scripts, Hamburg initially began penning Polly without specific actors in mind for certain parts, instead crafting the page-bound characters with deft strokes, attempting to establish a basis of reality-then pouring on the mayhem and jolting everyone into life.

He continues, "What appeals to me and one of the great things about writing is that you can think of a normal situation and take it to the comic extreme, making it worse and worse-that's how my mind works."

But he does admit to having at least a strong inkling about the actor to best inhabit Reuben while working on the script and continues, "I was trying to write a romantic comedy and I had these characters in my mind. For the most part, I really did just try to write and not picture any actors in the roles because I like to write these people until they become real to me. But I had worked with Ben on several movies before, and the more I wrote Reuben, the more I thought that Ben was the perfect guy to do it. I think every day I imagined him doing different scenes."

Stiller had met Hamburg when he saw his first feature, Safe Men, and their relationship continued through Parents and Zoolander (Stiller starred in both Hamburg co-written projects, in addition to directing and co-writing Zoolander). The demand for Hamburg's scripts had kept the filmmaker from directing, and when he had a draft of Polly ready for reading (which would mark his return to behind the camera as well), he had sent it to Stiller.

Stiller comments, "John's the kind of guy that when most of his filmmaking friends have a finished script or movie, they show it to him to get his feedback-he'll give great input and help you fix something. So it's great to have somebody who you know is that good working on something from the beginning. And it's just more fun to work with him on-set because we laugh at the same things…and he probably gets me to do things that I wouldn't normally feel that comfortable doing."

For the role of the former Model U.N. delegate and post-breakup romance for Reuben-the titular Polly-Hamburg turned to Emmy Award-winning actress Jennifer Aniston, whose comedic reputation had been cemented by 10 seasons as Friends' Rachel Green and whose growing list of memorable movie roles (Bruce Almighty, The Good Girl) had broadened her popularity and versatility.

Hamburg recalls, "I was trying to figure out who could play Polly and Jennifer came about for various reasons. I was always a big fan of Jennifer's from Friends and some of the movies she had made during the course of that show. She was terrific in Office Space and just phenomenal in The Good Girl. I met with her and it just felt really right. I knew that she would have the ability to play the scenes opposite Ben and keep up with him in terms of comic ability and comic timing, but could also play the dramatic scenes. Jennifer brought so much to Polly, stuff that only she could create, and she is funny and sublime."

Ben Stiller filling the shoes of Reuben Feffer was a literal re-teaming, not only for Stiller and Hamburg, but also for Stiller and the film's producers (Jersey Films-Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher-produced Stiller's feature film directorial debut, Reality Bites, in 1994).

Producer Michael Shamberg says, "Ben's not just perfect for Reuben, Ben's a great naturalistic actor. And he also has that kind of vulnerable 'everyman' quality that he's so comfortable with, as does Jennifer. She's very much the big-screen lead with Ben in this. They're a great pair-gifted performers with heart and serious acting finesse as well."

Producer Stacey Sher finishes, "Someone asked John Hamburg if he stayed at home and thought of ways to torture Ben Stiller-the two of them are a perfect pairing. They understand each other's sensibilities incredibly well, and John knows the depths and outrageousness that Ben is capable of, and Ben has total trust in John's comic and emotional integrity in his work. It's just a great thing to watch. The two of them are a great team. And there's no arguing that Jennifer's done fantastic work, both on television and in her films. But with Polly, she's really amazing. She's this wonderful mix, funny and touching, a true star. So with them working together, another great partnership has been formed."

"Ben is the perfect guy to play this role because he is a great actor," adds Hamburg. "Even though it's a comedy, Reuben goes through dramatic things, like his wife leaving him and lots of excruciating pain. What I wanted for this movie is a very grounded kind of reality to the comedy. It's all based on situations that if you're watching as an audience member, you relate to the situation or fear of ever being in that situation…that's why I think Ben is the best guy in the world to put in those situations, because as an audience member, you can identify with him and be glad that it's not happening to you."

"It's really great fun to work with people you know," explains Stiller, "because you have this sense of trust that is really important, especially when you are doing comedy. So much about putting a comedy together is trusting someone to orchestrate it all-you're never really sure it's going to work until you ultimately get it in front of an audience. So you have to take those chances, which makes the experience of doing the film a lot more fun. In the end, because I know John, and I can trust that he'll bring it all together-at the end of the day, what's going to make it work is how the movie is put together."

For Jennifer Aniston as Polly Prince, working with the writer/director was a first-time and very welcome experience. Aniston says, "John's an incredible writer and such a good director. When I read the script, I laughed-I mean, bent over laughing sometimes-throughout the whole thing, and that just doesn't happen that often. He doesn't shy away from a really embarrassing or outrageous situation, because we get into those just being human. But it's also smart and moving, and he is very specific and knows exactly what he wants on the page and in the scene. What's really great is it's character driven, it's not one of those romantic comedies with some device like 'the lie' or 'the letter' or 'the false boyfriend to con each other.' Getting romantic comedy right is hard, and John does it-and makes it hilarious as well."

For Aniston and Stiller, working together was a re-union of sorts, as Stiller had filmed a guest spot several seasons prior on Friends.

Stiller comments, "Working with Jennifer couldn't have been better or more enjoyable. She's incredibly present, and is instantly reactive to whatever comes up in the work. And I don't need to tell you that she's funny, and charming and cute. I guess now that I think about it, she's pretty much the perfect woman."

Another facet that the screenwriter/director enjoyed in casting his Polly was that for Aniston, it was a different shade of a role-having played "very grounded characters before and I thought it would be fun to see her play a role that was kind of very ungrounded and loose and free. She exceeded what I envisioned she would bring to it," he observes.

Aniston's take on Polly Prince: "Reuben has love and that's one thing Polly doesn't have. She's got everything else, but probably the only thing she's done really well is to protect herself from ever being hurt. Polly needs structure-let's face it, she is a little flaky and could use a little slapping around like, 'c'mon young lady!'"

For the character of Reuben's best friend, Sandy Lyle, a little slapping around may be in order as well. Hamburg had envisioned him from the beginning as the mirror and advisor (not always a good one) to Reuben. As a teenager, Sandy had hit it big in a Brat Pack-ish film entitled Crocodile Tears with a stand-out scene involving bagpipes. Since then, the actor hasn't recaptured his career lightening in a bottle-and is now planning a comeback via a community theater production of Jesus Christ Superstar, playing the part of Judas…when he doesn't feel like singing the part of Jesus as well.

"I always imagined Philip Seymour Hoffman as Sandy," says John Hamburg, "Like I say, I try to write the character and then think of the actor, but in his case, I just always imagined him. I wanted somebody who could also bring a humanity to the role, who wouldn't just be the comic sidekick. Philip is obviously such an amazing actor, but he hasn't really played a lot of big comedic roles, but I just felt he had the ability to do it. When he agreed, I was thrilled…it was like a dream come true."

"I remember I read the screenplay with my girlfriend and we just laughed out loud the whole script," remembers Hoffman. "I had read a script of John's years ago and I remember how funny it was, so taking the role of Sandy was really a no-brainer. It made me feel good reading it, I laughed a lot, and the character of Sandy is just extremely humorous, clever and smart."

The award-winning actor and director, known for a string of memorable primarily dramatic performances (several in collaboration with filmmaker and friend Paul Thomas Anderson), found stretching his comedic acting muscles a welcome and not extremely different acting process.

Hoffman observes, "I don't approach my work differently when I have to prepare for a character like Sandy because all characters are different. Every screenplay is different and if you choose your films wisely, you always try to do things that are different-this is John Hamburg's world. Working with Ben has been really helpful. It's educational, a learning experience, because he's done romantic comedies or comedic work much more than I have. He has a mind for it, but at the end of the day, everyone is trying to act well. Acting is acting. You just have to be aware that in a comedy, the scene is going to be heading toward humor. You have to find out where that is."

Finding the humor was an easy task for the actors filmmakers slotted into key roles around Reuben, Polly and Sandy: Debra Messing as Reuben's abandoning bride Lisa Kramer; Hank Azaria as the scuba god Claude; Bryan Brown as 'carpe diem' billionaire Leland Van Lew; and Alec Baldwin as Stan Indursky, outspoken head of the firm where Reuben works.

Hamburg comments, "Debra makes Lisa sweet and likeable, even though her role makes her out to be someone who dumps on Reuben in the worst way. Hank is obviously one of the great comic actors and he can do any kind of voice. Even though Claude is stealing Lisa from Reuben, I need the audience to think that although the situation is horrible, it's okay because it's a comedy. And Hank's character is very sweet and brings a certain humanity to his role.

"And we just got really lucky with the way people responded to the script. A lot of guys like Alec Baldwin and Bryan Brown normally play leading roles, but they just got into the feeling of showing up throughout the schedule and getting into these smaller parts. They charge the scenes and it's really important to cast those roles with amazing actors because that's where the tension comes from-Ben reacting to Alec, or reacting to Bryan, or trying to keep a straight face when Hank is standing naked on the beach," he concludes.

For Emmy-winning star of the NBC hit Will & Grace, Messing found a lot to like about both her character and the screenplay Hamburg had penned.

Messing says, "Love is a serious business. Right after their wedding, Reuben and Lisa encounter some obstacles, which both characters are responsible for in their own way. That's what I love about John's script and that's what I love about the romantic comedies I'm drawn to-there is an element of reality, something universal, something recognizable. Even within the sort of zany world that is created, there is something that grounds the needs and desires of the character at key points in the script. So there are these nice moments amidst all of this incredibly funny stuff."

Comic (as well as dramatic) chameleon, Emmy-nominated Hank Azaria, finds a more matter-of-fact reason for his being cast as Claude and offers, "Every few years, Hollywood seems to ask me to play some semi-dressed foreign guy, which is a weird but unique niche to carve out."

In early readings of the script for Hamburg, Azaria had supplied both the characters of Van Lew and salsa instructor Javier, as well as Claude, "but there was really no one else who could have played Claude," observes Hamburg. ("I really wanted to do Claude," says Azaria, "because it's rare that you read something so funny-well, I am the naked foreign guy first of all, and second, it's rare that you read something so funny.")

Australian leading man Brown, who hasn't appeared in a Hollywood film in nearly a decade, was lured up from Down Under by the magic combination of Hamburg's words and the alchemy possible with such a superlative cast.

"John Hamburg is a bloody nice bloke, which really helps!" quips Brown. "When you read his script you realize how clever he is, he knows his stuff and he knows how he wants to do this movie. He had worked with Ben Stiller before and Ben, being a director himself, has enormous confidence in John, which I share. When we talked, John and I, we thought of Leland as a Richard Branson-type of bloke. But there are other blokes like that too-I'm just playing this character who loves being involved in life, loves doing things and doesn't actually stop to think of the consequences."

The role of Stan Indursky provided award-winning and esteemed actor Alec Baldwin with a golden opportunity to add another indelible, finely drawn character to his inestimable list of accomplished film performances. ("And on top of that, he's astoundingly funny," adds Hamburg.)

Baldwin notes, "John is clear-cut in his writing-his comedy is grounded in a kind of slightly off-center universe. Stan's the kind boss to follow you into the can to bounce an idea of off you, or to try and crack an inappropriate joke at the wrong time-like at Reuben and Lisa's wedding. And all of this is quite realistic behavior. But in John's writing, it crosses the line into a comic place, just one step away from reality. I had a great time working with him, Ben and the rest of the cast. It was a good mix of all types of actors that joined together into a strong ensemble, with John at the head of it."

* * *

For the Jersey Films producing partners of Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, Hamburg's romantic/situation comedy Along Came Polly was a welcome addition to their diverse slate of motion picture projects, and the filmmakers were attracted to the script because of its comedy and its pedigree.

DeVito observes, "John's projects have an unmistakable feel to them-people forget what 'sitcoms' are all about, but John's stuff is brilliant in its use of putting real people in exaggerated situations. The characters can be witty or funny, but the rich comedy comes out of the sometime painful situations they find themselves in. You walk in on your bride with a scuba instructor…still wearing swimming fins? Youch."

Shamberg continues, "John Hamburg has a unique ability to take human behavior and make it sympathetic and funny, plus he has a great track record-Meet the Parents, Zoolander and other projects. That quality of writing-that's both real and funny-is very hard to find in Hollywood. A lot of times you'll see stuff that is just jokey and unbelievable, but John's scripts are like diamonds out there amidst all that other stuff."

Sher adds, "At the center of these situations is believability, but John heightens it, turning it into hyper-real circumstances. What you really find in this film is real people, real emotions and hyper-real situations-they're sort of your worst nightmare of what could go wrong in a relationship or what could go wrong in your life. But out of that, we sometimes find what could ultimately go right."

What seemed "right" for all was John stepping behind the camera to direct the feature as well. His feature film directing debut was a tidy, low-budget, independent comedy, Safe Men, about two mediocre singers mistaken for expert safecrackers by the gangsters of Providence, Rhode Island; the 1998 film stars Sam Rockwell and Steve Zahn. Additionally, Hamburg had clocked additional time behind the camera helming episodes of television's college-set comedy Undeclared.

He muses, "The things that I've been noticed for have been some of the movies that I've written or co-written, but I grew up with cameras and making short films. It feels very natural to me to be on the set and working with the actors, the camera, the cinematographer, the production designer. It's something I've missed in the last few years when I've been just writing with other directors. It was a great experience working with these amazing directors, but I felt really ready to get back and direct myself."

By filmmakers' assembling the top-drawer comedic cast for Polly-Stiller, Aniston, Hoffman, Messing, Azaria, Brown and Baldwin; veterans Michele Lee and Bob Dishy as Reuben's parents; Jsu Garcia as salsa instructor Javier; Missi Pyle as Polly's friend/co-worker Roxanne; and countless others-the screenwriter/director found the strong ensemble enabled him to really bring the script to life…often in ways he had not envisioned when scripting or beginning to approach a scene.

Hamburg enthuses, "I give a great deal of credit to the cast and crew, who knew the world of this movie as well as I did. They brought ideas that were exactly what I might have imagined or did them in a way that I couldn't have imagined, and those are the greatest moments…when you get to the point where you can say, 'That's exactly what I would have wanted, but I couldn't have thought of that myself.' That's why they were hired-it's been a total collaboration. I didn't view this as 'a film by John Hamburg'-I wrote and directed it-but I see Along Came Polly as a film by a big group of people who have been assembled to put this on-screen."

"The reason we got such a great cast-it's a tribute to John's writing," interjects Michael Shamberg. "His characters are so specific that the comedy comes out of a very recognizable character, and that attracts great actors."

Stacey Sher says, "One of the great things about the script that John wrote is that every character has his big comic set pieces and big emotional moments as well. So, people didn't care how long they were working-in addition to the talented performers who worked most of the shoot, it seemed like every week or so, we had another great actor in to do his part."

Principal photography for Along Came Polly took place from November 2002 to February 2003, with filming in downtown Los Angeles (inside warehouses, mostly), on the streets of New York City and some additional studio backlot shooting for select exterior New York street locations. The north shore of Oahu doubled for St. Barts, and Leland's boat (The 'Roo Shooter) set sail from the California port of San Pedro.

Part of the challenge of including a character such as Leland Van Lew within the romantic comedy world of Polly was being able to convey the "walk on the wild side" life he inhabits-Reuben is charged with evaluating his risk-filled life for a potential insurance policy before Leland's company goes public. Van Lew thinks nothing of starting his day with a B.A.S.E. jump (which stands for "building, antenna, span and earth" and which, simply put, means a parachute-wearing adventurer jumping off of a high, stationary structure, either manmade or natural). He also enters sailing competitions with foreboding monikers such as the "Death Race 2000, Cross-Ocean Challenge." And although comedy could be termed a tough business, achieving such stunts might be considered just a tad bit tougher.

Enter professional stuntman Tim Rigby-the former British Royal Navy officer who logged five years as an E.O.D. (Explosives Ordinance Disposal) diver prior to relocating to Los Angeles and establishing himself in his new filmic occupation. In doubling for Brown as daredevil Van Lew, Rigby executed a B.A.S.E. jump from Los Angeles' downtown AT&T building early on a Sunday morning in January of 2003-with only one chance to execute his 570-foot jump on target. On John Hamburg's action cue, Rigby walked to the edge of the building and when the wind felt right, took the plunge, falling for approximately three seconds before pulling his chute that, when opened, took every second of effort to keep under control between the narrow streets and buildings. The whole jump took approximately 30 seconds and was filmed by no less than 10 different cameras.

Rigby, a veteran of nearly 200 B.A.S.E. jumps (including a recent competitive jump of off the world's tallest buildings, the Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumpur) and more than 1,600 skydives, admits to pre-jump nerves: "I always get nervous. I think I would be worried if I wasn't nervous, even though it's not a good thing."

For a different kind of danger within the confines of romantic comedy, look no further than the nerve-wracking and somewhat mystifying acting process of…improvisation, which some performers describe as "taking a leap of faith" and which luckily requires the normal amount of cameras and minimal use of stunt doubles.

The screenwriter/director explains, "The great thing about directing something you wrote is that although I hear it in my head a certain way, sometimes I get on set and it doesn't quite sound right. With these amazing actors, I have to be open to their ideas or to my own ideas not working. I think something is going to work and it doesn't, so I have to re-write or improvise and figure out how to make it better. That's what I love about directing as opposed to just writing. You just get a chance to play around and discover new things everyday and that's really the atmosphere I've tried to create, where everybody can just throw ideas out and try new lines."

Stiller says, "Well, it depends who you are working with. Certain directors are just less comfortable with that, but I think it's always great to have that freedom. With John, the script was so strong and specific, so what was there on the page was already great-but sometimes we definitely would try stuff, and he is really great at being open to things that come up in the moment."

Universal Pictures Presents A Jersey Films Production: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Along Came Polly, starring Debra Messing, Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown and Alec Baldwin. The music is by Theodore Shapiro and the music supervisor is Randall Poster. It is edited by William Kerr and Nick Moore. The production designer is Andrew Laws; the director of photography is Seamus McGarvey, B.S.C. The executive producers are Jane Bartelme and Dan Levine. Along Came Polly is produced by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher. The film is written and directed by John Hamburg. c2003 Universal Studios www.alongcamepolly.com

ABOUT THE CAST

An innovative actor, director and writer, BEN STILLER (Reuben Feffer) continues to imprint his unique comedic and dramatic perspective on film, television and stage.

Coming up Stiller stars in Along Came Polly, opposite Jennifer Aniston and written and directed by John Hamburg for Universal Pictures. The film centers on the life of an anal-retentive, risk-averse man who analyzes risk for a living. His life is turned upside down when he gets involved in a risky romance. The impressive cast also includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing, Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown and Alec Baldwin.

On March 5th, 2004, Starsky and Hutch hits theaters with Stiller starring as classic television character Starsky opposite Owen Wilson's Hutch. Based on the long-running ABC series, the feature version will focus on the formation of the duo's partnership. The film is written and directed by Todd Phillips and produced by Ben Stiller and his Red Hour partner Stuart Cornfeld.

Stiller is currently in production lending his voice as one of the stars in DreamWorks Pictures' Madagascar. The film, which also stars Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith and David Schwimmer, is about four civilized Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their entire lives in blissful captivity. But when they are unexpectedly shipped to Africa and get shipwrecked on the exotic island of Madagascar, these native New Yorkers must try to survive and come to terms with what it truly means to be "wild."

In 2004, Stiller will also star in Barry Levinson's Envy, with Jack Black for Castle Rock and DreamWorks. The duo will play lifelong best friends and neighbors whose relationship takes a nasty turn when one of them (Black) becomes filthy rich by selling an invention. The black comedy also stars Christopher Walken.

Stiller most recently starred in Duplex opposite Drew Barrymore, which he produced through his production company Red Hour Films with partner Stuart Cornfeld. Stiller, under his Red Hour Films banner, also produced and co-stars in The Untitled Dodgeball Project for 20th Century Fox due out in Summer 2004. The film, which recently wrapped production, also stars Vince Vaughn and Christine Taylor. Stiller also starred as the title role in the Paramount Pictures comedy Zoolander, based on the story of Derek Zoolander, a character he co-created with Drake Sather for the VH-1 Fashion Awards. Stiller co-wrote, directed and also produced the film through Red Hour Films with partner Stuart Cornfeld. Prior to that Stiller also starred in Jay Roach's blockbuster Meet the Parents for Universal Pictures. The film, which also stars Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner and Owen Wilson, has grossed over $150 million in the U.S. The film won a People's Choice Award and earned Stiller an American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performance. He is also nominated for two MTV Movie Awards: Best Comedic Performance and Best On-Screen Team (with Robert De Niro). Stiller also starred in Wes Anderson's comedy The Royal Tenenbaums for Disney, with Gene Hackman, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Stiller has an exclusive, three-year, first-look film and television production deal with DreamWorks, in which he will write, produce and direct films under his own banner, Red Hour Films.

Stiller made his feature-length motion picture directorial debut in 1994 with the critically acclaimed Reality Bites, in which he also co-starred with Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo and Ethan Hawke. He went on to direct Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick in The Cable Guy for Columbia Pictures.

As an actor, Stiller has amassed a variety of film credits. He starred in Disney's Keeping the Faith with Edward Norton (who also directed the film) and Jenna Elfman. In 1998, Stiller appeared in Peter and Bobby Farrelly's smash hit romantic comedy, There's Something About Mary, for 20th Century Fox. The film also starred Cameron Diaz and Matt Dillon. He gained critical notice in the feature film Permanent Midnight, directed by David Veloz and based on Jerry Stahl's controversial Hollywood memoir. He was also seen in Universal Pictures' Mystery Men; directed by Kinka Usher, the film also starred Hank Azaria, Geoffrey Rush, Paul Reubens, Eddie Izzard, Janeane Garofalo and William H. Macy. He also appeared in Neil LaBute's Your Friends & Neighbors; written and directed by LaBute, the ensemble drama also stars Jason Patric, Nastassja Kinski, Catherine Keener and Aaron Eckhart. He appeared in Jake Kasdan's Zero Effect with Bill Pullman; the comedy/mystery was selected to take part in the "Un Certain Regard" sidebar of the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. He also starred in David O. Russell's Flirting With Disaster, opposite Patricia Arquette, T�ma Leoni, Josh Brolin, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin; Steven Spielberg's epic World War II adventure, Empire of the Sun; John Irvin's Next of Kin; David Anspaugh's Fresh Horses; and John Erman's Stella.

Stiller made his professional acting debut on Broadway in 1985 starring opposite John Mahoney in John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves. While appearing in the play, Stiller persuaded Mahoney and fellow cast members Swoosie Kurtz, Stockard Channing and Julie Hagerty to appear in a short comedy film, his first true directorial effort, The Hustler of Money. The short film, a parody of Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money, eventually aired on Saturday Night Live, where it was so well received Stiller was subsequently hired as a featured player and apprentice writer for the NBC comedy series.

Following his stint at Saturday Night Live, Stiller directed a comedy special for MTV called Back to Brooklyn. Stiller followed that project by creating The Ben Stiller Show, also for MTV, and later collaborated with Judd Apatow for a 13-episode run on FOX. A critical success, Stiller, along with the rest of the writing staff, was awarded an Emmy for outstanding comedy writing. Warner Home Video recently released all 13 episodes on DVD.

Decidedly predisposed to a career in show business, with parents Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Stiller is a native of New York City. Stiller studied Theater Arts at U.C.L.A. for one year before opting out of college to pursue his acting and directing ambitions professionally.

Born in Sherman Oaks, California, and raised in New York City, JENNIFER ANISTON (Polly Prince) is a versatile actress who was exposed to acting at an early age by her father, John Aniston, who starred on NBC's daytime drama, Days of Our Lives, and by her godfather, the late Telly Savalas.

Aniston currently stars in the hit ensemble comedy Friends, along with Courteney Cox-Arquette, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow, now in its 10th season on NBC. Her work as Rachel Green has earned her two Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress; three People's Choice Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Series; two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Actress in a Comedy; as well as nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy, Drama or Mini-series and for Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She won her first Emmy in 2002 as Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as her first Golden Globe Award in 2003 as Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She recently received her second Emmy nomination for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

In addition to the massive success she has achieved on the small screen, Aniston continues to branch out with very different roles on the silver screen. She most recently starred opposite Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman in the smash hit Tom Shadyac comedy, Bruce Almighty. She also recently starred in Miguel Arteta's critically acclaimed third film, The Good Girl, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly and Zooey Deschanel, a role for which Aniston earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination. The film made its debut to rave reviews at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Aniston's film credits include: Rock Star, opposite Mark Wahlberg and directed by Stephen Herek; She's the One, opposite director Ed Burns and Cameron Diaz; Picture Perfect, opposite Kevin Bacon and Olympia Dukakis, directed by Glenn Gordon Caron; 'Til There Was You, with Jeanne Tripplehorn, Sarah Jessica Parker and Dylan McDermott; and the critically praised The Object of My Affection, opposite Paul Rudd. Her other film credits include Office Space and Dreams for an Insomniac.

Aniston, who is of Greek descent, spent a year of her childhood living in Greece with her family, but relocated to New York when her father landed a role on the daytime drama Love of Life. She had her first taste of acting at age 11, when she joined the Rudolf Steiner School's drama club. Aniston said, "I was always fascinated by acting, but my experience at Rudolf Steiner encouraged me to pursue it as a career. Steiner was a free-spirited school that encouraged creativity and individualism."

Her experience at the Rudolf Steiner School also helped Aniston develop a passion for art. At age 11, one of Aniston's paintings was selected to be on display in an exhibit at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

She began her professional training as a drama student at New York's High School of the Performing Arts. After graduating in 1987, Aniston won roles in such off-Broadway productions as For Dear Life at New York's Public Theater and Dancing on Checker's Grave. In 1989, she landed her first television role as a series regular on Molloy. Aniston's other television credits include series regular roles on The Edge and Ferris Bueller; a recurring role on Herman's Head; and guest-starring roles on such series as Quantum Leap and Burke's Law.

Aniston currently resides in Los Angeles.

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN (Sandy Lyle) continues to wow audiences and film critics, starring in a broad range of critically acclaimed productions. Upcoming for Hoffman is Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain. He has just completed filming HBO's Empire Falls. Earlier this year he starred in Owning Mahowny, which had its world premiere at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Last year, he appeared in the blockbuster Red Dragon (the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs) with Edward Norton, and in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love opposite Adam Sandler, marking the fourth time Hoffman has worked with his friend Anderson. He also starred in Spike Lee's 25th Hour, re-teaming him with Norton, and won rave reviews for his soulful performance in Love Liza, which was written by Hoffman's brother, Gordy, debuted at Sundance and won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.

His other film credits include David Mamet's State and Main and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. In 1999 he appeared in three films-opposite Robert De Niro in Joel Schumacher's Flawless, which earned him a London Film Critics and SAG nomination for Best Actor; alongside Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley; and with Tom Cruise and Jason Robards in Anderson's Magnolia, in which the cast was honored with an Ensemble SAG Award nomination. Hoffman received the National Board of Review's Best Supporting Actor Award for his work in both The Talented Mr. Ripley and Magnolia.

Additional notable roles are Anderson's Boogie Nights and Hard Eight, as well as Happiness (which garnered him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male), Patch Adams, The Big Lebowski, Twister, Scent of a Woman and Nobody's Fool.

On Broadway, his recent performance as James Tyrone, Jr. in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night earned him a Tony nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Hoffman starred in the latest production of Sam Shepard's True West, which earned him a nomination for a Tony Award in dual roles. Other stage work includes The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline at the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park; Defying Gravity at the American Place Theater; The Merchant of Venice, directed by Peter Sellars; and the off-Broadway production of Mark Ravenhill's Shopping and F--king.

As the Co-Artistic Director of the New York-based theater company, LAByrinth, Hoffman directed Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train and In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings, both written by Stephen Adly Guirgis. He also moved the production of Jesus to the Donmar Warehouse and subsequently London's West End. At the end of 2001, Hoffman directed the New York premiere of Rebecca Gilman's play, The Glory of Living, for the Manhattan Class Company. In the summer of 2002, Philip directed Our Lady of 121st Street, also written by Stephen Adley Guirgis for LAByrinth, which had such a successful run it was moved to a larger venue, the Union Square Theater.

Emmy Award winner DEBRA MESSING (Lisa Kramer) can currently be seen in NBC's award-winning Will & Grace, which is currently in its sixth season. Messing stars as Grace Adler, an interior designer whose best friend and soul mate is gay. Messing has earned one Emmy Award for Best Actress and three nominations, four Golden Globe nominations, one SAG nomination and two American Comedy Award nominations for her portrayal of Grace on the groundbreaking sitcom.

Messing has been juggling both feature films and a successful television show for several years now. She recently completed shooting the lead role in the romantic comedy entitled Something Borrowed, which will be released next year. In the film, Messing portrays Kat Ellis, a woman who hires a male escort (portrayed by Dermot Mulroney) to accompany her to a wedding in London so she can face her ex-fianc�me, who happens to be the best man. She also lent her voice talents to play Arlene in the animated release Garfield: The Movie, along with Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield. The movie will be released in June, 2004.

Most recently, Messing co-starred in Woody Allen's comedy, Hollywood Ending, opposite Woody Allen and T�ma Leoni, and in The Mothman Prophecies, opposite Richard Gere, in which she portrayed his wife. Additional film credits include: Alfonso Arau's romantic love story, A Walk in the Clouds; and Woody Allen's Celebrity.

Her television credits include the four-hour CBS mini-series, Jesus; the ABC thriller, Prey; the Fox comedy, Ned & Stacey; NYPD Blue; and Seinfeld.

Messing received her liberal arts education at Brandeis University, where she majored in theatre arts. She spent half of her junior year studying in London's prestigious B.E.S.G.L. program, which featured dramatic arts teachers recruited from various distinguished institutions such as the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Cambridge University and Oxford

University.

Upon graduating Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University, she was accepted into N.Y.U.'s elite graduate acting program and received her M.F.A. three years later.

Messing garnered much excitement in New York over her portrayal of Harper Pitt in the pre-Broadway workshop of Tony Kushner's Tony Award-winning play Angels in America: Perestroika. She then left New York for Seattle to star as Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Intiman Theatre. Upon returning, she was cast as both Mary Louise Parker's and Polly Draper's understudy in the New York premiere of John Patrick Shanley's critically acclaimed off-Broadway play Four Dogs and a Bone at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Messing went on to co-star in Paul Rudnick's off-Broadway play, The Naked Truth.

Messing co-starred with Maria Tucci in the highly acclaimed, two-woman, off-Broadway production of Donald Margulies' Collected Stories, which premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club and was chosen as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

During her free time she supports charities such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Project Angel Food and various breast cancer charities.

Messing currently resides in Los Angeles.

HANK AZARIA's (Claude) ability to transform himself into a multitude of characters has made him one of the most sought-after actors today.

Azaria was most recently seen in the feature Shattered Glass, starring alongside Hayden Christensen and Chloe Sevigny. Last summer, the actor starred in the London West End production of David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago, opposite Matthew Perry and Minnie Driver.

Azaria will soon be seen starring in Eulogy, with Winona Ryder, Zooey Deschanel and Debra Winger. He will also star in and produce the Showtime drama pilot Huff. He also recently co-wrote, produced and directed the short film, Ray's X-ray Vision.

Azaria provides the voices for several key characters on the animated hit comedy series The Simpsons. He has won three Emmys for his work on the show-including a recent 2003 win. Azaria has also been nominated for a 2003 Emmy Award for Guest Actor in a Comedy for his role as David (Phoebe's scientist guy) on NBC's hit Friends.

Last year, he starred in the NBC mini-series, Uprising, which told the story of Jewish resistance fights in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.

Azaria starred with Jack Lemmon in the acclaimed ABC telefilm Tuesdays with Morrie. This true story had been on The New York Times' best-seller list for almost two years. Produced by Oprah Winfrey Presents, Azaria portrayed Mitch Albom, a journalist inspired by his ailing former teacher and mentor's lessons about life. His portrayal earned him an Emmy Award and a SAG Award nomination. That same year, he played Professor Groteschele in CBS' live television broadcast of Fail Safe. The Golden Globe-nominated and Emmy Award-winning telefilm was based on the early 1960's novel of the same name.

Azaria received critical acclaim and a Screen Actors Guild award nomination for his memorable turn as Agador Spartacus, the scene-stealing Guatemalan houseboy, in Mike Nichols' smash hit, The Birdcage. His portrayal of television producer Al Freedman in Robert Redford's Academy AwardR-nominated Quiz Show also garnered him critical praise.

His other feature credits include Bark; America's Sweethearts; Cradle Will Rock; Mystery Men; Mystery, Alaska; Godzilla; Great Expectations; Celebrity; Heat; Grosse Point Blank; Now and Then; and Pretty Woman. He also lent his voice to Fox's animated feature Anastasia, as Bartok, the comical bat. He reprised the role in the video sequel, Bartok the Magnificent.

Azaria was also nominated for an Emmy and for his recurring role as Nat the dog walker on NBC's Mad About You.

Azaria trained at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and played Hamlet in a production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at Columbia University. He continued his theater studies at Tufts University, appearing in such plays as Uncle Vanya, The Merchant of Venice, The Ballad of the Sad Caf�m and The Dumb Waiter.

After moving to Los Angeles, Azaria studied under the direction of Roy London. Experimenting in improv and sketch comedy, he became a favorite at the local comedy clubs and co-wrote An Evening on Thin Ice, which was presented at Theatre-Theatre. Azaria also won a Dramalogue Award for his performance in Conspicuous Consumption.

BRYAN BROWN (Leland Van Lew) became not only an Australian star but also an international name with the successes of Breaker Morant and the television series A Town Like Alice in the early 1980's. This led to his first overseas role as Luke O'Neill in the hit mini-series The Thorn Birds, where he met and married Rachel Ward. A number of leading Hollywood roles followed in such films as FX, FX2, Cocktail, Gorillas in the Mist, Blame It On the Bellboy and Tai-Pan.

For the past 15 years he has lived and worked mainly in his homeland Australia with Rachel Ward and their three children. He has appeared in over 25 Australian features. This is his first Hollywood film in ten years.

ALEC BALDWIN (Stan Indursky) is a performer of many talents who, for the past 20 years, has distinguished himself in movies, television and his first love, the stage.

Baldwin last appeared on stage in the Bay Street Theatre (Sag Harbor, Long Island) production of Ira Lewis' Gross Points in the fall of 2001. His other stage appearances include the Broadway productions of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, Joe Orton's Loot and Caryl Churchill's Serious Money. His off-Broadway work includes: Macbeth in the 1998 New York Shakespeare Festival; Prelude to a Kiss (a role he reprised in the screen version) at the Circle Repertory Theatre; and David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre.

On film, Baldwin has appeared in Pearl Harbor, State and Main, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Outside Providence, The Edge with Anthony Hopkins, Mercury Rising, Ghosts of Mississippi, The Juror, Heaven's Prisoners, The Shadow, Malice, Glengarry Glen Ross, Prelude to a Kiss, The Hunt for Red October, Great Balls of Fire, Alice, Miami Blues, Working Girl, Talk Radio, Married to the Mob, Beetlejuice, She's Having a Baby and also as the narrator in The Royal Tenenbaums. His recent work also includes Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, starring with Mike Myers for director Bo Welch and producer Brian Grazer; The Cooler with William H. Macy; and the TNT cable movie Second Nature, which was co-produced by his production company, El Dorado Pictures. Upcoming is a role in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator as Juan Trippe, founder of Pan American Airlines; and the feature film The Last Shot with Matthew Broderick, written and directed by Jeff Nathanson.

Baldwin began his career on the daytime television series The Doctors. He went on to numerous roles including Knots Landing and the mini-series Dress Gray. Baldwin produced and starred in the film The Confession (winner of the Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay) that debuted on Cinemax. He co-produced and starred in the TNT mini-series Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial. Baldwin was nominated for an Emmy for his role as Secretary of Defense Robert McNarmara in Path to War, the HBO production on the Johnson administration's Vietnam policy.

Baldwin is also involved in several causes related to public policy. He is a board member of People for the American Way. He also serves on the board of the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, sponsored by Stonybrook University in honor of his mother. Baldwin is a member of the N.Y.U. Tisch School of the Arts Dean's Council and serves on Bay Street Theatre's board. He is a board member of the New York Shakespeare Festival and is also a dedicated supporter of various animal rights groups.

Baldwin is a native of Massapequa, Long Island. He is a graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts (B.F.A.). Baldwin studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute under Elaine Aiken. He also studied with Mira Rostova. He has a daughter, Ireland Eliesse.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Creating comedy with a three-dimensional soul has become writer/director JOHN HAMBURG's (Writer / Director) trademark storytelling style. As evidenced by the success of each of his projects, he has quickly risen through the ranks as a top writer and director of comedic fare that is simultaneously funny and believable, achieved by not only learning the nuances of filmmaking, but also by finding the humor in everyday life. Whether it comes in the form of lip-bitingly hilarious dialogue or flawlessly timed slapstick, Hamburg understands the need for audiences to connect with the characters and story and delivers both in riotously funny doses.

Hamburg's most recent directorial endeavor, Along Came Polly, stars Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing, Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown and Alec Baldwin in a story about the fortunes and mishaps that occur when taking chances in life. Reuben Feffer (Stiller) is a man who has never taken risks in his life. He has a seemingly picture-perfect existence…until he finds his perfect wife (Messing) rocking the boat with another man on their honeymoon. Reuben returns home to pick up his emotional pieces and get his life plan back on track. He soon reconnects with childhood friend Polly Prince (Aniston), a free spirit who takes the straight-laced, goal-oriented Reuben down the more adventurous roads in life, introducing him to indigestible ethnic food, salsa dancing in underground clubs, scary children's stories and sight-impaired house pets.

Hamburg began his feature film career writing and directing the independent film, Safe Men. The film stars Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) and Steve Zahn (Daddy Day Care) as a pair of down-and-out lounge singers who are mistaken for safecrackers. The strong supporting cast includes Paul Giamatti (American Splendor), Mark Ruffalo (You Can Count On Me) and Broadway great Harvey Fierstein, as the Jewish underworld boss who calls the shots. Hamburg's fresh and original script and innate comedic sensibility were the keys to attracting top talent for this, his feature debut. Safe Men made its premiere at the 1998 Sundance Film festival, where Hamburg began to garner attention for his witty portrayal of safecrackers and songwriters in Providence, Rhode Island.

After his success at Sundance, Hamburg co-wrote his next two features, Meet the Parents and Zoolander. Directed by Jay Roach (the Austin Powers trilogy) and starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, Meet the Parents was a comical look at the trials and tribulations that occur when meeting your future in-laws. Meet the Parents, released by Universal in 2000, truly resonated with audiences and helped Hamburg brand his unique comedic style of blending realism with farce. Hamburg took a different approach in 2001's fashion industry satire Zoolander. Starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as a pair of clueless male models charged with the task of saving the world from tyrannical fashion overlords, Zoolander quickly became a hit and has garnered a strong cult following. The box-office success of these two films solidified Hamburg's position as one of the foremost writers of comedy with Meet the Parents taking in over $331 million worldwide and Zoolander grossing over $55 million worldwide.

Born and raised in New York City, Hamburg began making short films while in high school. At Brown University, he continued making movies in addition to studying playwriting. He later attended the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at N.Y.U. There, he wrote and directed the short film, Tick, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and brought Hamburg his first taste of critical praise and audience appeal.

Hamburg currently resides in New York City.

DANNY DeVITO (Producer) is an actor, producer and director; he has been called one of the entertainment industry's most versatile players.

DeVito wrote, directed and produced several short films in his early Hollywood years before his emergence as a feature-length filmmaker in 1984. DeVito's trademark are films that have darker comedic themes. He directed Throw Momma From the Train, The War of the Roses, Hoffa, Matilda, Death to Smoochie and Duplex.

In 1992, DeVito added another dimension when he co-founded Jersey Films. Jersey has produced over 20 motion pictures, including the Academy AwardR-nominated Erin Brockovich, Man on the Moon, Pulp Fiction, Out of Sight, Get Shorty, Hoffa, Matilda, Living Out Loud, Garden State and Along Came Polly.

Though two films co-starring DeVito won the Academy AwardR for Best Picture (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Terms of Endearment), it was the part of Louie De Palma that propelled him into national prominence as star of the hit television show Taxi. In a 1999 readers' poll conducted by TV Guide, DeVito's Louie De Palma was voted number one in TV's Fifty Greatest Characters Ever.

DeVito has also starred in many films not produced by Jersey. They include Anything Else, Big Fish, Renaissance Man, The Big Kahuna and Heist.

Following Taxi and before the creation of Jersey Films, DeVito starred in such films as Junior, Batman Returns, Twins, Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile, Ruthless People and Tin Men.

DeVito attended Our Lady of Mt. Carmel grammar school and Oratory Prep School in Summit, New Jersey, but appeared in only one school play, as St. Francis of Assisi. After graduation, he pursued several odd jobs, always with the idea of acting in the back of his mind.

Finally he applied to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and was accepted. They had fencing and a speech class, he said mockingly, "So you don't talk funny."

Unable to get work, Danny bought a round-trip ticket and headed to Hollywood. After years of unemployment, he returned to New York. He called an old friend and former American Academy professor who, coincidentally, had been seeking him out for a starring role in one of three one-act plays presented together under the title of The Man With the Flower In His Mouth.

Soon Danny was into big money ($60 a week), and other stage performances followed in rapid succession. Among his credits were Down the Morning Line, The Line of Least Existence, The Shrinking Bride and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

In 1975, under a grant from the American Film Institute, Danny and his wife, actress Rhea Perlman, wrote and produced Minestrone, which has been shown twice at the Cannes Film Festival and has been translated into five languages. Later they wrote and produced a 16-millimeter black-and-white short subject, The Sound Sleeper, which won first prize at the Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Association competition.

DeVito carries his success well. Never forgetting that there were more difficult times, he maintains a healthy sense of perspective. As Taxi character Louie DePalma would say, "If you don't do good today, you'll be eatin' dirt tomorrow."

MICHAEL SHAMBERG (Producer) is a partner in Double Feature Films with Stacey Sher. Over his successful career, Shamberg has produced such Academy AwardR-nominated films as Erin Brockovich, The Big Chill and the multi-award-winning film Pulp Fiction. Most recently, Michael produced the critically acclaimed feature Camp by writer/director Todd Graff.

He has also produced such films as the acclaimed Out of Sight, Reality Bites, 8 Seconds, the smash hit Get Shorty, Sunset Park, Fierce Creatures, Matilda, Feeling Minnesota, Gattaca, Living Out Loud, Man on the Moon, The Caveman's Valentine, How High and the OscarR-winning A Fish Called Wanda. He is currently producing Large's Ark, starring Natalie Portman and Zach Braff, set for a release later this year.

Shamberg executive-produced the television series Kate Brasher for CBS, as well as The American Embassy (NBC) and UC Undercover (NBC) for the 2001-2002 season. He currently serves as executive producer on the drama Karen Sisco (ABC), starring Carla Gugino as the title character.

STACEY SHER (Producer), a partner in Double Feature Films with Michael Shamberg, received an M.F.A. from the Peter Stark Graduate Program at the U.S.C. School of Film and Television. She began her career in the industry as director of development at Hill/Obst Productions in 1985 and was promoted to vice president of production in 1987. After serving as associate producer on Heartbreak Hotel and The Fisher King, Sher became senior vice president at Lynda Obst Productions in 1991.

In 1992, she joined Jersey Films as executive vice president and was promoted to president in 1993. She was the executive producer of Reality Bites for Universal, Pulp Fiction and Drowning Mona. Sher also produced Get Shorty, Matilda, Feeling Minnesota, Gattaca and Living Out Loud, as well as Universal's Out of Sight, Man on the Moon, Erin Brockovich, The Caveman's Valentine and How High. Most recently, she produced the critically acclaimed feature Camp for writer/director Todd Graff, released July 2003.

Sher is currently producing Large's Ark, starring Natalie Portman and Zach Braff, set for a release later this year.

Sher was executive producer of the television series Kate Brasher (CBS), as well as The American Embassy (FOX) and UC Undercover (NBC). She now serves as executive producer on the drama Karen Sisco (ABC), starring Carla Gugino, and on the comedy Reno 911 (Comedy Central).

For her achievements, Sher won the Women In Film Independent Vision Award in 2000 and the Mary Pickford Award at the U.S.C. Cinema School for Distinguished Alumni in 2002.

JANE BARTELME (Executive Producer) started her career in production in New York, working with such motion picture luminaries as Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Evans, Bertrand Tavernier, Oliver Stone, Michael Mann and John Schlesinger. After working for Oliver Stone as production supervisor on Talk Radio and Born on the 4th of July, Bartelme decided to take a stab at producing and made the move to Los Angeles.

Although Bartelme was unable to spend much time in L.A., she did serve as associate producer on Nora Ephron's Sleepless in Seattle, Robocop 2 and Cutthroat Island. She received co-producer credits on RoboCop 3, Edward Zwick's Legends of the Fall and the hit comedy American Pie 2. She most recently served as executive producer on the runaway hit Bringing Down the House, starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah.

Her television credits include producing the John Sacret Young pilot, Level 9, and David Hoberman's pilot, Monk. In addition, Bartelme co-produced the critically acclaimed Ruby's Bucket of Blood, starring Angela Bassett.

DAN LEVINE (Executive Producer) is currently a senior vice president of production & development at Dimension Films, having joined the company in July 2003.

Prior to that, Levine was an executive vice president for Jersey Films, having started in their New York office in February, 1999. While in New York, he met filmmaker John Hamburg, which led to Jersey Films producing Along Came Polly at Universal, with Levine serving as one of the film's executive producers.

During his time at Jersey Films, Levine also co-produced Camp (written and directed by Todd Graff, released July 2003) and was the executive on Broken Lizard's Supertroopers (released in 2001). He also set up The Freedom Writers (written and to be directed by Richard LaGravenese), to which he is also attached as the executive producer.

After moving to Los Angeles and relocating to the L.A. office in February, 2001, Levine set up Lightspeed with director Bryan Singer and set up the supernatural horror project Lost Girls with Allen Coulter attached to direct. He also developed projects with directors such as Wayne Wang and Mary Harron.

Prior to his time at Jersey, Levine was a vice president of development at New Regency, where he was the executive on such films as L.A. Confidential, Fight Club, City of Angels and Murder at 1600.

Levine started his career as the creative executive at Doug Wick's Red Wagon Productions.

Born in Armagh, Northern Ireland, SEAMUS McGARVEY, B.S.C. (Director of Photography) began his career as a stills photographer. After attending film school in London, he started shooting documentaries and short films, including Skin, (starring Ewen Bremner of Trainspotting), which was nominated for a Royal Television Society Cinematography Award. In 1995, he shot Michael Winterbottom's feature debut, Butterfly Kiss.

In 1997, McGarvey lensed Atlantic, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood (nominated for the 1998 Turner Prize), which began a long collaboration between the two-recently with McGarvey lighting Taylor-Wood's portrait series of Hollywood actors for GQ Magazine (November 2002). In 1998, McGarvey was invited to join the British Society of Cinematographers, becoming its youngest member ever.

McGarvey's recent film credits include: the multiple Academy AwardR-nominated The Hours, starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore for director Stephen Daldry; The Actors, starring Michael Caine and directed by Conor McPherson; Enigma, starring Kate Winslet and directed by Michael Apted; HBO's Wit, starring Emma Thompson for director Mike Nichols; Stephen Frear's High Fidelty, starring John Cusack; The War Zone, Tim Roth's award-winning directing debut; and The Winter Guest, starring Emma Thompson and Phyllida Law, directed by Alan Rickman.

McGarvey has also shot numerous music videos for such artists as Elton John, U2, Robbie Williams and PJ Harvey.

ANDREW LAWS (Production Designer) has been working in film since 1995 when he left the field of architecture, a training which has supported him in his new vocation. Most recently he served as production designer on the stylish period romantic comedy Down With Love, starring Ren�me Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, and the David Zucker comedy, My Boss's Daughter, starring Ashton Kutcher. His additional feature film production design credits include director Joel Schumacher's recent thriller Phone Booth and his acclaimed Tigerland, both starring Colin Farrell; and The Minus Man, starring Owen Wilson and directed by Hampton Fancher.

Prior to becoming a production designer, he served as art director on such films as Swordfish, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Simpatico and Rushmore. Born in the U.K., Laws moved to the U.S. as a child. He received his B.F.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz and completed his Masters degree studies in architecture at U.C.L.A.

WILLIAM KERR (Editor) has edited the hit comedy feature films Undercover Brother, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, My Fellow Americans and Tommy Boy. He has garnered eight Emmy Awards for his editing work in television, including the documentary The Beatles, which was produced to honor the 20th anniversary of their landmark album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He also served as editor on the television series Undeclared.

NICK MOORE's (Editor)editing feature film credits include Richard Curtis' all-star romantic comedy, Love Actually; About a Boy (nominated for Best Edited Feature by the American Cinema Editors); Roger Michell's Notting Hill; David Caffrey's Divorcing Jack; David Leland's Land Girls; and Peter Cattaneo's The Full Monty, for which he received a shared BAFTA nomination for Best Editing.

RANDALL POSTER (Music Supervisor) most recently supervised the music in Richard Linklater's School of Rock and the period drama Mona Lisa Smile, which was directed by Mike Newell. Poster's other recent credits include Todd Phillips' Old School, Ben Stiller's Zoolander, Wayne Wang's Maid in Manhattan and Jay Roach's Meet the Parents, the movie that began his association with Along Came Polly writer/director John Hamburg.

Poster has worked with director Wes Anderson on Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, and is currently working on Anderson's next film, The Life Aquatic, which is presently shooting in Rome.

A mainstay of New York's film community, Poster has worked with such

notable directors Todd Haynes, Kevin Smith, Danny Boyle, Mary Harron, Larry Clark, Kimberly Peirce and the estimable Harmony Korine.

Composer THEODORE SHAPIRO's (Music By) versatility and talent are evident in his scores for a wide range of feature films, as well as his works for the concert hall. He most recently scored the Todd Phillips hit comedy Old School, as well as the comedies View from the Top and Not Another Teen Movie. His additional feature film composing credits include the David Mamet projects Heist and State and Main; the indie circuit hit Girlfight for director Karyn Kusama; Peter Mattei's Love in the Time of Money; Morgan Freeman's Hurricane Streets; and John Hamburg's feature film screenwriting/directing debut, Safe Men. Shapiro also scored Wet Hot American Summer and On the Ropes.

His work will soon be heard in the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson-starrer Starsky and Hutch, again for director Todd Phillips.

Among Shapiro's symphonic compositions are: "Chambers" (for small orchestra), recently performed by the L.A. Philharmonic and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; "Avenues" (concerto for piano and orchestra), performed by both the Seattle Symphony and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; and "Of Blood and Carnations" (for orchestra), premiered by the N.Y. Chamber Orchestra and later performed by the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra.

-along came polly-

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