2/5
As a comedy, Just Go with It fails in most aspects. As a romance, it tries too hard and fails there too. It's a shame, as the movie has potential and many of the tools to make a half-decent rom-com, unfortunately a dumb storyline and even worse characters detract from any romance and from most of the laughs.
Adam Sandler stars as Danny, a successful Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who was once left at the alter many years ago. Since then Danny has kept his wedding ring as a way to pick up stupid girls and get them to come home with him. Then, at a party he spends a night on the beach with a hottie much younger than him named Palmer (swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker). In the morning she finds the ring in his pocket and assumes he actually is married. He tells her he is getting a divorce, but she wants to meet the wife.
Danny than creates a confusing and unnecessary ruse to hide the truth from Palmer. He gets his assistant Nurse Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to pose as his soon to be ex-wife. He buys her thousands of dollars’ worth of clothes just to put her in the part of a Beverly Hills ex-wife for one brief meeting with Palmer. Somehow, that one meeting turns into a week in Hawaii with Katherine’s kids posing as children she had with Danny, and Danny’s cousin pretends to be Katherine’s new fiancée. The story might sound a little confusing for a rom-com, but it isn’t what happens that baffled me, its wondering why on earth the characters behave the way they do. For example, why would a new girlfriend want to spend lots of time with the soon-to-be ex-wife? Why does Katherine need a new fiancée? How do things get so serious between Palmer and Danny when he is a successful surgeon and she still listens to NSYNC?
Danny’s cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson) pretends to be a German named Dolph Lundgren (but not the actor). He puts on one of the worst German accents ever and smokes a Meerschaum pipe. Eddie is a character who is hated by Nurse Katherine, and almost equally by members of the audience with any sense of decency or a good sense of humor. Granted, some of his scenes are funny, but most are not. Nicole Kidman also appears as Katherine’s nemesis from college who happens to be staying at the same Hawaii resort. Kidman plays the part well, but she only has a limited amount to work with as the script is very poor.
Just Go with It may remind some of the rom-com equivalent to Transformers 2, yes there are hot actresses and some laughs, but the story is so unbelievably bad that none of the other parts of the film can be enjoyed properly. Despite Sandler being an experienced and often hilarious comedian, his newest film has come up short. The film has many tools at its disposal, from the chemistry of Sandler and Aniston to the skill of Nicole Kidman. Unfortunately, a poor script means these actors are effectively flat characters who spout out nonsense lines to fit the horribly planned out plot and scenarios. The original story the movie is based off of has been stripped away and replaced by a mediocre and extremely predictable rom-com.
As a comedy, Just Go with It fails in most aspects. As a romance, it tries too hard and fails there too. It's a shame, as the movie has potential and many of the tools to make a half-decent rom-com, unfortunately a dumb storyline and even worse characters detract from any romance and from most of the laughs.
Adam Sandler stars as Danny, a successful Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who was once left at the alter many years ago. Since then Danny has kept his wedding ring as a way to pick up stupid girls and get them to come home with him. Then, at a party he spends a night on the beach with a hottie much younger than him named Palmer (swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker). In the morning she finds the ring in his pocket and assumes he actually is married. He tells her he is getting a divorce, but she wants to meet the wife.
Danny than creates a confusing and unnecessary ruse to hide the truth from Palmer. He gets his assistant Nurse Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to pose as his soon to be ex-wife. He buys her thousands of dollars’ worth of clothes just to put her in the part of a Beverly Hills ex-wife for one brief meeting with Palmer. Somehow, that one meeting turns into a week in Hawaii with Katherine’s kids posing as children she had with Danny, and Danny’s cousin pretends to be Katherine’s new fiancée. The story might sound a little confusing for a rom-com, but it isn’t what happens that baffled me, its wondering why on earth the characters behave the way they do. For example, why would a new girlfriend want to spend lots of time with the soon-to-be ex-wife? Why does Katherine need a new fiancée? How do things get so serious between Palmer and Danny when he is a successful surgeon and she still listens to NSYNC?
Danny’s cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson) pretends to be a German named Dolph Lundgren (but not the actor). He puts on one of the worst German accents ever and smokes a Meerschaum pipe. Eddie is a character who is hated by Nurse Katherine, and almost equally by members of the audience with any sense of decency or a good sense of humor. Granted, some of his scenes are funny, but most are not. Nicole Kidman also appears as Katherine’s nemesis from college who happens to be staying at the same Hawaii resort. Kidman plays the part well, but she only has a limited amount to work with as the script is very poor.
Just Go with It may remind some of the rom-com equivalent to Transformers 2, yes there are hot actresses and some laughs, but the story is so unbelievably bad that none of the other parts of the film can be enjoyed properly. Despite Sandler being an experienced and often hilarious comedian, his newest film has come up short. The film has many tools at its disposal, from the chemistry of Sandler and Aniston to the skill of Nicole Kidman. Unfortunately, a poor script means these actors are effectively flat characters who spout out nonsense lines to fit the horribly planned out plot and scenarios. The original story the movie is based off of has been stripped away and replaced by a mediocre and extremely predictable rom-com.