10 Brilliant Characters Trapped In Terrible Movies

Without question one of the best actors of his generation, the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman had a way with stealing the show in even the most uninspired of movies.

Case in point: Along Came Polly, a so-called "rom-com" which stars Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston as a pair of strangers who slowly fall in love despite the various personal and professional obstacles in their path.

With its gross-out humour, unlikeable characters, lack of originality and tepid romantic chemistry, the film would be best left totally unseen if it wasn't for Hoffman's hysterical turn as Stiller's best friend Sandy Lyle, a struggling actor, former teen idol and hilarious narcissist who's dreaming of a major comeback.

Considering how genuinely terrible the main characters are in the film, Along Came Polly would have made a much more engaging comedy if it had dropped the Stiller-Aniston romance and instead focussed on Sandy Lyle's attempts to sort his career out. What a waste.