Adam Sandler movies are a lot of things, but rarely do I consider them to be flat out dumb. Even some of his more juvenile films, like Happy Gilmore or You Don't Mess with the Zohan, had a bit more going on between the ears than people give them credit for. Just Go With It is another piss poor attempt by Sandler to make a "mature" comedy, remaking the 1969 Walter Matthau comedy, Cactus Flower. That film features Goldie Hawn in her first major big screen role, opposite Ingrid Bergman. The three of them helped make a ridiculous, farcical situation believable with help from a pinpoint script by I.A.L. Diamond. Adam Sandler's version has no such support, and is forced to make it's characters dumb as a bag of rocks in hopes that the story makes any sense. It still doesn't.
Phoning in another flick from a posh island resort in Hawaii, Sandler is perpetual hound dog Danny Maccabee, a seemingly irresistible plastic surgeon who scores chicks by wearing a wedding ring on his finger. Women just cant' seem to pass up those married doctors with a house full of kids. I guess every woman in the world is a skanky, home wrecking oaf. Danny's actions are lazily excused away by the fact that his previous attempt at marriage was short-lived due to a cheating spouse, which is like saying I should rob McDonalds because they screwed up my order one day. His scheming ways aren't exactly supported but easily dismissed by his best friend and assistant, Katherine(Jennifer Aniston), a divorced mother of two annoying kids who I guess represents all the good and wholesome stuff he's missing out on as a philandering fool.
As fate would have it, Danny meets the girl of his dreams in uber-babe Palmer(Brooklyn Decker). Letting his guard down for once and not exploiting the wedding ring ploy, he actually scores with Palmer the first night they meet, a surefire sign of eternal happiness. The two are completely smitten with each other, up until she finds the ring in his pants pocket and assumes he's married. Face plant! Rather than making up a suitable, easily defensible lie like "I used to be married but never threw it away", he digs himself a planet-sized hole by saying his divorce isn't final yet. Danny fumbles and stammers so badly during this moment that anyone who believes him must've suffered a recent brain-related event. To her credit, Palmer doesn't quite buy it and demands to meet the wife, which forces poor Katherine to pose as her. Eventually her two kids get sucked into the scheme as well.
The setting suddenly shifts to Hawaii so the entire "family" can get to know one another, but it's really just an excuse for the more clownish characters to have a reason to stick around. In particular Danny's dufus friend( Nick Swardson), an oversexed irritant pretending to be Katherine's boyfriend. In a completely underhyped appearance, Nicole Kidman pops up in the cliched role of Katherine's high school enemy, Devlin Adams. She's meant to be this terrible, Mean Girls-type character, but the problem is that everybody in this film is so reprehensible that she looks sad by comparison.
There's a reason why this movie doesnt' work, and unfortunately I have to go back to Cactus Flower to make my point. While the basic premise of the two movies is the same, the whole "wedding ring" thing wasnt just some scheme to nail hot chicks, or at least it wasn't presented as such. Danny is a scumbag, and he never actually ceases to be one. Just because he shares a few sweet moments with the kiddies doesn't excuse his actions, and he's such a jerk that I can't imagine why either woman falls for him. Oops, hope I didn't spoil anything for ya, in case this is your first romantic comedy. Adam Sandler tries to make Danny lovable with a few campy voices, but the magic he once had has long faded. Jennifer Aniston, on the other hand, is better than this movie deserves. I've been hard on her but the fact is she's grown into a decent comedic actress who is actually more attractive as she gets older. She was excellent in The Switch last year, and that trend continues. She hammers out as much chemistry as she can with Sandler, who appears to have no interest in returning the favor. Is it weird that I prefer her over the swimsuit model, Decker? Speaking of Decker, her husband Andy Roddick makes a brief, almost funny cameo, so watch out for that if you care about that sort of thing.
Frequent Sandler collaborator, director Dennis Dugan(Grown Ups, The Benchwarmers) continues to prove why it's good to have really successful friends who can help you get work even after there's proof you don't deserve it.
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