Ben Stiller takes a tentative step toward becoming a legitimate romantic lead in an unadventurous comedy about a risk analyst averse to risk. The movie mimics his character's personality so closely that it takes no chances -- aside from introducing the word "sharted" to the English language (you don't want to know). The humor is recycled from funnier, less calculating Stiller pictures such as There's Something About Mary and Meet the Parents. 

Hyper-cautious New York insurance man Reuben Feffer gets jilted on his Caribbean honeymoon by a gal (Will & Grace  star Debra Messing) unable to resist the well-advertised charms of a nudist diving instructor. Crossing paths with a flighty acquaintance from junior high named Polly -- Jennifer Aniston in adorable mode -- affords Reuben the opportunity to relax his approach to life. Because the performers are so at ease with the characters and situations devised by writer-director John Hamburg, being lulled into a state of complacency is a real danger. Polly describes Reuben as "a nice, safe, conventional guy." Ditto the flick. Stiller is on autopilot and Aniston doesn't stray far from her Friends  persona. Sure it's inevitable the pair will make a go of it, but more effort could have been expended to make it believable. It's hard to buy them as an item since we aren't given enough evidence. The primary thing Reuben does to win Polly over is take salsa lessons. Cute but unconvincing.

Even allowing for the toilet humor, long a prerequisite for mainstream comedies, the movie doesn't have much texture. The two exceptions are Reuben's slobby best friend, a childhood actor played with typical gusto by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who gets to do some gross things that make you squirm more than laugh. He's a has-been who hires a camera crew to follow him around in the hopes he can sell the footage to E! Hollywood True Story. But while he's in denial about his own life, he sees his buddy's situation with clarity. A buff Hank Azaria adds zest by exercising his talent for accents as the French diving instructor who beds Reuben's wife with good-natured alacrity. Playing Reuben's boorish boss, Alec Baldwin attempts an embarrassingly broad and indistinguishable accent.

Part of what made Meet the Parents so funny was that Stiller's hapless character was out of his league in every way. Reuben is a tad neurotic yet he's not dweeby or pathetic. He's got a good job, dresses nicely if conservatively, and can afford a house in the suburbs. When his wife returns wanting to get back together, he has to make a choice. Using a software program from work designed to determine if people qualify for life insurance, he calculates the risks of getting back together with the Mrs. or going for it with Polly. They must have used the same program when they made Along Came Polly.

(Released by Universal and rated "PG-13" for sexual content, language, crude humor and some drug references.)