The title of Adam Sandler’s latest, “Just Go With It,” comes off more as a plea than a title. Granted, Sandler has made many entertaining movies and just as many craptastic movies. I mean, did anyone really watch “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan”? His latest ridiculous outing throws rhyme and reason out the door and begs on hands and knees for its audience to just go with it. That seems to be the motto of most Sandler movies.
The movie begins with Danny Maccabe (Adam Sandler) giving the audience a little insight as to how he began his excursion into lying about being married to pick up women. Twenty-two years prior, Danny overheard his bride-to-be telling her bridesmaids that she was only marrying Danny for his money and that she had been ridden more than the neighborhood bike during their engagement, so he leaves her.
Years later, Danny is a successful plastic surgeon. He meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), a beautiful schoolteacher, and is instantly smitten. After she discovers his fake wedding ring in his pocket, Danny fabricates an intricate lie that he is newly divorced and forces his loyal assistant, Katherine (Jennifer Aniston), to play the part of his "ex-wife." Before long, Danny’s web of lies grows so much that it encompasses Katherine’s kids (Bailee Madison and Griffin Gluck) and Danny’s socially awkward cousin, Eddie (Nick Swardson).
I don’t really know where to start. “Just Go With It” is a soulless Sandler movie. I would have to say that “Billy Madison” or “Happy Gilmore” had more to them than this movie does. I have been a Sandler fan for a long time, and his movies are some of the most quoted movies among guys, but I feel that “Funny People” — if you’ve seen the movie — is an accurate depiction of what Sandler has become. Sandler just feels as though he is spouting out one liner after one liner. I couldn’t get behind his character at any time during the movie.
The best part of the movie is the supporting cast. Aniston is great as Katherine. She is basically playing a familiar character for her but she plays it well. Madison, Gluck and Swardson are the show stealers. There is a pretty great scene when the whole "family" is at a Chuck-E-Cheese-type restaurant. While Danny is away, Michael makes up a sob story to Palmer that he always wanted to swim with the dolphins in Hawaii but his "dad" told him that they didn’t have time to go. The fake tears this kid works up are so over the top and hilarious.
The other problem I have with this movie is the story. It wasn’t that it's cliché and overused (although it is). It's because of the casting of Brooklyn Decker. I understand why she was cast because, well, she was the selling tool for this movie. It's that Decker could very easily be Sandler’s daughter. Granted, this is an ongoing joke in the movie, but it plays more creepy than funny and begs the point as to what age gap is maybe a little excessive.
While “Just Go With It” has its moments, it is an extremely forgettable movie. Maybe if the filmmakers had chosen a different leading man, or if Sandler would’ve actually tried or at least found a more age-appropriate love interest, this movie would’ve made a bit more of a lasting impression.
There are plenty of special features to go around. There are deleted scenes, a couple featurettes, cast commentaries and a blooper reel.
Film: 2.5 Yaps Extras: 3 Yaps