Would you pay to see someone get smacked with a face full of sweaty belly hair? I did. And it was at that exact moment I knew I’d gotten my money’s worth.

The poor schlepp on the receiving end the flabby hair ball was Ben Stiller, who plays the likable but tepid Reuben Feffer, the romantic lead in the new comedy, “Along Came Polly.”

The facial slap is just one of many hits Reuben takes in the film, as he wrestles with his neurotic personality that drew him to a career as a risk management analyst. When his wife dumps him for a French scuba instructor on their honeymoon, Reuben sets his sights on the wild and unpredictable Polly, a long-lost friend from middle school played by Jennifer Aniston. The personality mismatch sets the stage for the rest of the movie.

The plot seems to be a resurrection of “There’s Something About Mary,” a point made all the more obvious because both movies star Stiller. But who are we kidding? This kind of comedy, i.e., the stupid kind, is really about the gags and one-liners. And “Along Came Polly” has some good ones.

The film’s two most obnoxious characters steal the show. One is Reuben’s straight-talking, hyper-Jewish boss portrayed brilliantly by Alec Baldwin. The other is Reuben’s loyal friend and “wingman,” a slovenly hipster beautifully brought to life by actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Baldwin throws out some great lines while taking a leak. And Hoffman looks “swan-like” in one basketball scene with Stiller: I haven’t seen an athlete so dysfunctional since Belushi trained using those little chocolate donuts on “Saturday Night Live.”

But it’s Stiller who does most of the physical comedy. It’s in the basketball sequence that Reuben gets a face full of his shirtless opponent’s belly hair.

The main problem with the gags was there weren’t enough of them. The movie slows down about halfway through when it starts to explore the difficulties any real couple would face with vastly different outlooks on life. Every comedy needs some straight scenes to set up the laughs, but too much drama between Stiller and Aniston left me wanting more vaudeville from Baldwin and Hoffman.

Written and directed by John Hamburg, co-writer of “Meet the Parents,” another romantic comedy starring Stiller, “Along Came Polly” doesn’t have the belly-laughs of “There’s Something About Mary” or the polish and pacing of “Meet the Parents,” which also starred Robert DeNiro. But its gags worked well, and it’s easy to root for both Stiller and Aniston. It easily won me over.

The film even has a message, which Reuben learns at the end. It is something of a standby for these types of comedies: Stop and smell the roses, as Ferris Bueller would say.

When Hoffman’s character, a washed-up child star, has a breakdown during a live performance in a small-time theater, Reuben’s father lays it on him. “There’s no point in going through all this crap, if you’re not going to enjoy the ride,” he says.

After all, there’s more to life than a face full of nasty belly hair.

“ALONG CAME POLLY”

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language, crude humor and some drug references

Starring: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Alec Baldwin, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Director: John Hamburg

Length: One hour 30 minutes

Now playing at: Astoria Gateway Cinemas

Short take: Ben Stiller plays a likable nice guy who gets a chance to land the wild and crazy Jennifer Aniston if he can only shed his play-it-safe attitude in this silly but good-hearted comedy loaded with gross-out humor. Check your manners at the door and you might have some fun.

Rating: Two and a half stars (out of four)