Synopsis
In Just Go With It, a plastic surgeon (Adam Sandler), romancing a much younger schoolteacher (Brooklyn Decker), enlists his loyal assistant (Jennifer Aniston) to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife, in order to cover up a careless lie. When more lies backfire, the assistant’s kids become involved, and everyone heads off for a weekend in Hawaii that will change all their lives.
Just Go With It isn’t a terrible film, but it had some major flaws from the get-go. First, the good part. The chemistry between an older, worn Adam Sandler and a very gorgeous Jennifer Aniston was something to behold onscreen. They seemed like a fun old couple that truly belonged together. Their quips back and forth were spot on and they seemed very sincere and believable. It’s absolutely essential to get that chemistry correct and sell the goods to the audience appropriately. The pair did a fabulous job in selling us that romance between the two characters. Had this movie not involved Brooklyn Decker’s character Palmer in any way, shape or fashion then this movie could have been great.
Now, for the bad parts.
Brooklyn Decker, who is a sweet actress, didn’t seem like she was comfortable at all as the ‘young, hot girlfriend’, Palmer. She read off the pages of the script with no emotion and depended on her gorgeous looks to make up for the lack of acting in this film; while it worked to an extent, Aniston seemed far more believable and likeable. Not to mention when Sandler’s Danny kisses Palmer it will make you cringe and think, as one character in the film stated, “Is that guy from Dateline MSNBC going to step out?” She wasn’t right for the role and I’m not really sure the role in the film was right for the story.
The story seemed to split right down the middle in terms of entertainment. Palmer’s side of the story was weak and far from believable. The way writer Allan Loeb established Danny’s history of picking up women by wearing a wedding ring was nothing short of brilliant, but the way Danny and Palmer fell in love with each other was far-fetched. Having no strong relationship, no build in the love between the characters just really hurt the overall story. If you can’t establish the feelings properly at the beginning of the film then you depend on other elements to carry it. You can’t treat a romance like that because all romances have to build and build. I get that the story was about Danny and Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) mainly, but the Palmer side was so weak that I was never sold on it. The story was built on dependency from the Danny/Palmer side and if that failed it would be half a story, which it was. Too quick, not enough details in that budding romance to warrant a struggle in Danny’s heart.
So what are you left with if half the movie fails? You’re left with funny moments and a one-sided story that should have had two sides. Danny/Katherine works well, as there is enough to establish feelings. Danny/Palmer does not work well, as it’s empty as can be. The inclusion of wacky-ass Nick Swardson as Eddie helps during moments of ‘blah’. It’s really too bad that Swardson could not have been in it more (that man needs a mainstream film of his own). What’s also funny and surprising is the appearance of the ever-hot/surprisingly funny Nicole Kidman and (wait for it) Dave Matthews. Kidman plays Devlin an old rival to Aniston’s Katherine. Matthews (yes, the singer/songwriter) plays her gay husband. Are they important to the story? No, but they’re a welcome surprise when they show up.
Overall, the movie has some funny moments to warrant a view, but there are far better romantic comedies out there than this one.
As for the Blu-ray portion of the movie, let’s start with the features. Here’s what you’re looking at:
DVD and Blu-ray Bonus Features Include:
– Blooper Reel: “Laughter is Contagious”
– Deleted Scenes
– Featurettes:
o “The Perfect Couple: Jen and Adam”
o “Dolph-Not The One From Rocky IV”
o “Shooting Hawaii”
– Commentary with Adam Sandler, Nick Swardson, and producers Allen Covert, Tim Herlihy and Steve Koren
– Commentary with Director Dennis Dugan
Exclusive Blu-ray Bonus Features Include:
– 11 Minutes of Additional Deleted Scenes
– 9 Featurettes:
o “Adon: Living Plastic”
o “Along Came a Prop Guy”
o “Decker’s Got Gas”
o “Kevin Nealon: The Plastic Man”
o “What’s A Dugan?”
o “Look Who Else Is In The Movie”
o “Sneaky Kiki & Bart the Water Fart”
o “The Not So Perfect Couple”
o “Decker’s First Role”
I’m very shocked on how many features come with this release. For a movie that got an 18% on rottentomatoes, and that just pulled in a little over $103 million dollars, it’s surprising how good of features are included in this release. You get some solid (and very funny) featurettes, mixed with some good Dennis Dugan material and you get a wonderful blooper reel. Most releases that don’t do well generally don’t get this much love from the studios, but this one did. Maybe it’s the Happy Gilmore syndrome where the critics hated it and audiences will love it; whatever the case might be the special features department on this Blu-ray is loaded.
As for the quality of the release, the 1080p doesn’t shine until the story shifts to Hawaii. Plenty of lush, green, ocean moments to make the HD shine through perfectly. For example, the group of folks finds its way to a waterfall and it looks phenomenal. Of course, the scene is completely driven by the beauty of Palmer and Katherine in bathing suits, but their surroundings are equally as pretty on Blu-ray. There is little to no noise/grain in the Blu-ray release, which justifies the purpose. Plus, if you’re destined to get this release it’s only $22 on Amazon, which isn’t bad for a release like this.