Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are always two actors that never go a year without presenting a new flick on the big screen once or twice You may even find it funny that the two comedic stars have never been in a movie together with their incredibly long list of comedy films. Maybe… More
Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are always two actors that never go a year without presenting a new flick on the big screen once or twice You may even find it funny that the two comedic stars have never been in a movie together with their incredibly long list of comedy films. Maybe because imagining them as the boy and the girl together is laughable, but either way, the two off-screen friends star for the first time together in "Just go with it". While I believe the film is better than "Grown Ups", "Just Go With It" isn't for everybody, even if you are a fan of Sandler or Aniston. I, however, managed to enjoy the film for what it was, even if it could have offered much more to it.
The storyline on the film falls short on nothing but lame, but, it still manages to entertain the audience. It also does a good job dummying it up enough so no one thinks on how stupid the idea of it really is. Even I didn't think back on everything until afterwards. The movie focuses on a lie and as the movie grows the lie becomes more and more stretched to the point where the films doesn't make much sense anymore. Meet Danny, a plastic-surgeon with a pretty good reason for going into the work he's in. He's never been married but he still wears the ring. Why? Well, he picks up women with it. Yes, its one of those romantic-comedies. The boy is a pig in the beginning and once he meets his true love he becomes an average Romeo. Actually, that doesn't exactly happen here either. Instead, when Danny meets the women of his dreams he must continue the lying, but this time he takes it with a new approach. Asking his assistant, Katherine to play the role of his wife who he's divorcing, the lie stretches where Palmer (Danny's young new girlfriend) finds out Katherine has kids and Danny must become "Dad of the year" in order to succeed with winning Palmer's heart. A trip to Hawaii seems like the perfect way to do it, huh? Oh, and things take a terrible turn when Katherine reunites with an old enemy (well, sort of) and forces Danny to pretend to be her husband. Whoa, two different lies going on on the same island? That should be interesting. What I found odd was that I found Katherine story lie more interesting than Danny's, which is the films main plot. I found Danny and Katherine's fake relationship funny from Katherine's lie than their relationship in Danny's. I thought the movie set itself up nicely with making them each have a lie of their own. It made the movie much more entertaining. Her is something I found stupid from Danny's lie however. Why Danny thought he could trick Palmer into believing Katherine's two kids were his for the rest of their relationship was beyond me and it really helped make the movie a tad bit stupid. But, then again this is an Adam Sandler movie and not everything needs to perfect for it to be enjoyable. Watching Danny and the two kids (Boy and Girl) pretending to be a happy family was entertaining all the way through, even if it was stupid. But, another stupid thing from the movie was Aniston's character Katherine. She seemed like a real role-model for women in the film being a single-mother and a hard-working women, but, would a character like her really give in to helping Danny with such a lie? That involved her children? Well, like I said, what's left a thought in your mind hidden is what makes the movie much more enjoyable.
This an Adam Sandler movie, everyone, so don't expect characters you haven't seen before. You've got Adam Sandler playing Danny, who is pretty much the same guy Adam plays in all his movies: Himself. You've got silly characters with off-accents, babysitters without a brain, and cameos from all his pals. What struck me shockingly was that I didn't see Rob Schneider once. Dennis Dugan and Adam Sandler didn't include Schneider in this? They must've gotten into their first fight or something. Anyways, I've always liked Adam Sandler even if his movies aren't perfect. I find that his lazy acting makes his all the more hilarious. But, that's just me. Jennifer Aniston is the same deal. She's normally always the same bratty, spoiled girl. In this movie, however, while she still feels the same, she plays a mother of two. Her performance isn't strong, and I found it not believable that the two kids in the film were hers. Either way, her performance was fine. I just enjoyed watching her and Adam play it out for the first time on the big screen. Nick Swardson, who seems to be the new Rob Schneider cameo-guy in Sandler's recent films, plays Eddie, Danny's idiot cousin. Swardson is what brings most of the crazy, over-the-top, but super funny laughs in the film. His scenes are mostly corny, but his energy actually makes us laugh, even if they are ridiculous. I'd like to see the guy play a lead in his comedy, he has the potential. Brooklyn Decker plays Palmer, Danny's new beau. The girl plays an absolute moron, and doesn't intend too. I think Decker does an alright job here, but, she doesn't do anything special with the role. The role was quite simple though, look beautiful and look way out of Sandler's league. The worst performance, and I feel like a Scrooge saying this, comes from the little girl in the film: Bailiee Madison. Madison plays Maggie, a girl who wants to grow up and be an actress. She becomes excited that she will be pretending to be Danny's daughter and uses the lie as training. Using a British accent the entire time, her croaky voice added to the accent made her a real pain to watch on-screen. I'm sorry, but, the accent wasn't cute. The little boy, however, does a much better job than the girl who plays his sister. He was a dull little boy, but, is obviously broken by how his "real" father doesn't pay attention to him. This brings anger towards Danny and Palmer (her believing Danny is the father) which brings Danny and the kids much closer. This shines into Katherine's eyes and then everything becomes predictable. Not like it already wasn't. Oh, and don't forget Nicole Kidman! She'll make you say, "What the hell is the point of her being in this?" the entire time. Literally. As for the film's acting, I wouldn't expect anything from it than what you would from a Sandler/Dugan collaboration.
Dennis Dugan has directed just about all of Adam Sandler's movies except for maybe a few. The two are obviously good friends, but, they tend to always use the same humor over and over. Not such a bad thing, because I always enjoy watching a new movie from the two. While Dugan isn't the greatest director, I'm shocked even he didn't make a quick cameo in this, as he always does. Did he and Sandler just get lazy with their little repeated jokes used in all their films like Schneider cameos and other missing pieces? Whatever, I'm not going to complain over something so stupid and something I could actually careless about it. But, Schneider not being there made it feel as if Sandler wasn't either. Odd. Anyways, the direction on this isn't so bad and I liked the whole Hawaii outlook. Me never being to Hawaii, its films like this and "The Heartbreak Kid" that really make me want to visit someday.
One problem I had with the film was that many of the jokes in it are overused. I laughed at the "Taking a Devlin" bit in the beginning of the movie and then the film repeats it over and over throughout where it becomes annoying by the 100th time its used. Same thing with the bass-player with the moving beard. The character is never actually shown until an epilogue scene but Sandler's character Danny seems to shove in Katherine's face his impression of the beard itself. He's only twitching his fingers under his chin, it was a snickering scene when he first did it, but then he did it twenty times throughout the film after that scene that made it really stupid. Usually what I like about Adam Sandler films is that they're always moving at a very energetic pace and are always throwing something new to burst out and laugh at but with "Just Go With It" the same jokes are used over but in different texts. Believe me, there are other funny moments in the film, like one random slow-motion scene that's so stupid its actually hysterical, but I feel like this one just wasn't the best with making the audience laugh. This was more entertaining for how these characters pulled through on the lie than what will happen next with the humor. But, I thought Nick Swardson, as ridiculous as his character and even his fake character were, was hilarious in every scene.
Overall, "Just Go With It" presents itself lame, but even though it does live up to that expectation, the movie still remains entertaining from start to finish. You can bash on me, tell me I'm wrong, and disrespect my opinion, but I stand by saying that I left the theatre happy with spending my money. Its super predictable, corny, and just another Adam Sandler playing Adam Sandler movie. But, its also energetic, fun, and interesting. A lot more than "Grown Ups" was. I'm not saying the movie is perfect, because believe me, it isn't even close. But, its still decent enough to rent.
