What happens when a little white lie turns into a web of lies, forcing someone to give a sheep CPR? You just go with it.
One bizarre scene after the next makes “Just Go With It” the perfect title for Adam Sandler’s latest movie. Sandler (“Grown Ups”) plays a plastic surgeon named Danny, who lies about being in a terrible marriage to get gorgeous women to sleep with him. But of course, Danny meets Palmer, played by Sports Illustrated model Brooklyn Decker, who makes him want to change his ways and settle down.
The only problem is that Palmer finds his “wedding ring” previously used to attract women, and the lies start spiraling out of control. Katherine, played by Jennifer Aniston (“The Switch”) , goes along with all of Danny’s lies until everyone is in the most ridiculous scenario imaginable; everything and anything goes in this surprising comedy.
The romantic comedy has the same old predictable plot of most chick flicks. Boy falls in love with girl. Girl falls in love with boy. Boy messes everything up and will do anything to win girl’s love back. Aniston is becoming notorious for these lame romantic plots.
However, as predictable as the plot may be, there are definitely scenes that no one will see coming. The previews don’t even come close to giving the entirety of the hilarity away, as sometimes happens. Sandler’s wacky comedy comes into play when least expected. People will be taken off guard and left thinking, “Did that really just happen”?
Unfortunately, every scene is not off the wall. The entire movie is an emotional roller coaster ride, the different tones of each scene losing the movie’s fluidity. Instead of just watching one movie comfortably, it is almost like watching a lot of mini movies. Some of those mini movies are hilarious, some are tear-jerking, but others are just bad.
Each element becomes a hit or miss, but luckily there are more hits than misses. Although the plot may be unbelievable, the acting was believable. It would be hard to mess up the acting in a movie so full of big names. Nicole Kidman, Rachel Dratch, Nick Swardson, Kevin Nealon, Heidi Montag and Dave Matthews all make appearances. They all bring their own flare, but the movie is too chaotic and busy for anyone to steal the show.
However, Kidman comes close in her intense hula dancing scene. Kidman’s neurotic character is married to Ian Maxtone, played by Matthews. Kidman does a fantastic job of getting on everyone’s nerves as she tries to out-hula Aniston. Kidman and Matthews are also well paired to become “that couple” everyone can’t help but roll their eyes at.
For a romantic comedy, the over-the-top chemistry between Kidman and Matthews is the only chemistry seen throughout the entire movie. As hilarious as Sandler is, the numerous love connections he makes are superficial and unbelievable. Then again, Sandler is playing the part of someone who lies about being married to sleep with numerous women. His character is supposed to be immature at having serious love connections.
Sandler’s lack of chemistry is easily forgiven by the unexpected humor. After all, all romantic comedies can easily show two people falling in love, but how many can have a woman in desperate need of plastic surgery because her eyebrow almost reaches her hairline and get away with it?
This movie is worth watching because of the bizarre scenes that make mouths drop and eyes pop out of their sockets. If it was not for the crazy humor this movie would face the same demise as any other romantic comedy shoved out by Hollywood. If you’re simply not a fan of Sandler’s random, outrageous comedy, this movie just isn’t for you.
“Just Go With It” is meant to be taken lightheartedly. It is a movie that you appropriately ‘just go with’ because watching a sheep get brought back to life is nothing compared to the rest of the movie.
3 stars out of 5
