Movie review: Just Go With It, starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Opens Friday, February 11th, 2011 (Check local showtimes)

Run Time: 1 hour 57 minutes, Rated PG-13

Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Nick Swardson

Directed by Dennis Dugan (Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Grown Ups)

​"Just Go With It" is definitely not Adam Sandler comedy at it's best, but it is also not quite romantic comedy at it's worst. If you try taking advice from the film's title and just go with it, despite it's many flaws and missteps, the film is funny enough to be an entertaining night out for most folks...especially fans of Sandler. How this movie gains a "PG-13" rating is beyond me however, and just might point to Sandler's power of influence in Hollywood.

The Plot. Sandler plays....Adam Sandler, as he does in most of his comedies. After being left at the altar and deeply hurt, he goes to a bar to drink his sorrows away, still wearing his wedding ring. What he finds, is that he has an uncanny ability to pick up women, when they think he's married. It's perfect for him...he never has to get attached and get hurt again. He becomes a plastic surgeon, and his assistant (played by Jennifer Aniston), is his only friend and the only person he is ever honest with. But when he meets the young & beautiful Palmer (played by the too-hot-to-be-real Brooklyn Decker), he really likes this one...but when she finds his wedding ring, he tries creating a lie in which he says he is soon getting a divorce...and guess who ends up posing as his wife.

Life's a Beach. The idea of this is much funnier than the actual storyline, which is outrageous, unbelievable, and downright ridiculous, even for Adam Sandler films. With Aniston posing as his wife, and her two kids posing as his kids, they somehow all end up in Hawaii together, which seems a favorite location for Sandler to set his movies in these days. What's another word...preposterous?...when in Hawaii they run into Aniston's college rival and her husband, played by Nicole Kidman and Dave Matthews (yes, the Dave Matthews). Again..."just go with it," I kept telling myself...and eventually I began to appreciate some of the zaniness, although the film never quite finds a solid comedic tone. If you look closely though, you will see bit characters and actors notably recognizable to fans of Sandler's films, giving the brand of comedy a familiar feel to long-time fans.

Bare Essentials. To quote the late Leslie Nielsen from Naked Gun, Brooklyn Decker "is the kind of woman that makes you want to drop down to your knees and thank God that you're a man." The movie takes the Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover-girl and puts her on display for much of the movie...not a bad draw, as the film's preview shows, to get guys to go see a romantic comedy. There are slo-mo shots of her rising out of the water, in the shower, de-robing, etc...nothing too distasteful, but I guess I'm just old when I think it was too much for a 13 year old. Those Jennifer Aniston fans won't be disappointed either with the gratuitous bikini shots, as they make her go from nerdy to sexy as the film progresses. I guess it's distractions like this that made the film bearable, but giving credit, both do a great job in their 2-Dimensional roles...the classic case of doing the most with the small amount of character given to an actor.

​Bottom Line. So mixed in with bad jokes about sheep, misfires dealing with alternate words for "poop", and predictably outrageous circumstances, I guess I am just too big a fan of Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nick Swardson (who I recognized as the gay roller-skater guy "Terry" from Reno 911), and now Brooklyn Decker, to care. Yah, I'm kind of giving it a free pass, I know, but it's the kind of movie that I really think people will walk out of thinking it was a pretty funny film...and as far as recent romantic comedies go, at least it doesn't take itself too seriously or treat the material heavy-handed (think "No Strings Attached.") There is no "you complete me" moment, and everything is treated light and comedically...a correct choice for films such as this.
So just go with it, and stop being all film-snobbish, OK?