In his latest cinematic outing, the "Happy Gilmore" star is assembling an illusion in order to be with a girl he has just met. This bubble of deceit he's surrounding this woman with becomes so big that its circumference is ready to burst. Because of the ridiculousness of his increasing amount of tall tales, "Just Go with It" takes place outside of reality, too far-fetched to believe or connect with.
Sandler is a professional plastic surgeon (ha ha ha ha ha) named Danny. Ever since breaking off his wedding over 20 years ago, he has been brandishing his ring in order to get lucky with the ladies. Apparently, married men are highly attractive to bar-dwelling girls, especially when the hubby is unhappy in his relationship. Women are such slutty demon whores.
One day, Danny manages to woo school teacher Palmer (Brooklyn Decker in her film debut) without having to whine about an unsatisfying relationship. Everything goes well until the morning after, during which she finds the wedding ring in his trouser pocket, causing her to believe that the man she just slept with is married. Uh-oh.
Out of desperation, Danny claims that he is actually going through a divorce with a made-up woman named Devlin. He then gets his loyal assistant, Katherine (Jennifer Aniston, "The Bounty Hunter"), to pose as his spouse when Palmer asks to meet this Devlin girl. All goes smoothly, but then Katherine answers her phone and shouts at her daughter (Bailee Madison, "Conviction"), revealing to Palmer that Katherine/Devlin has a child. Make that two.
This all escalates into Danny, Palmer, Katherine and her two kids (the son played by Griffin Gluck) taking a trip to Hawaii together. Tagging along with them is Katherine's supposed boyfriend, Dolph Lundgren, who is in fact Danny's cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson, "Blades of Glory") with a shaky German accent. As they enjoy the vacation together, Danny, Katherine and Eddie must keep the dishonesty going on and on until, I dunno, the lies all get resolved in the end. Which they don't.
This is Sandler back in his comfort zone of a screwball Hollywood comedy, his production company Happy Madison having produced this dreck. It's directed by Dennis Dugan, the helmer of such Adam Sandler masterpieces as "Grown Ups," "Big Daddy" and "You Don't Mess with the Zohan," so you should know what kind of ghastliness to expect.
"Just Go with It" is nothing other than a simple-minded, glossy vehicle for Sandler and Aniston to drive around in while brain-dead citizens throw cash into the passenger seat. It's distressfully stupid and without any heart to redeem itself, leaving us with a film that, in all honesty, doesn't even come close to being the least bit funny.
If there's anything to be said in its favour, it would be that Sandler and Aniston aren't loathsome. That's not particularly high praise, but it's true -- they have every right to be repugnant and irritating actors, yet they manage to be likable. They're both sweet and interact well with each other on-screen, making the film survivable. In terms of deep, meaningful performances, they're completely useless actors, but they're nice to watch, even if you know precisely how their development as characters will go.
Nonetheless, "Just Go with It" is a comedy that fails to crack a smile. When the film resorts to having hands urinated on and testicles crushed by planks of wood, you know the writers are getting desperate. In this case, the scribers are Allan Loeb ("The Dilemma") and Timothy Dowling ("Role Models"), and they haven't got a clue as to what they're doing. By the way, Loeb also wrote "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps." That explains a lot.
Well, what did I expect out of "Just Go with It"? It's gormless, it's redundant, and it's hopelessly dumb. Scenes and attempts at gags massively overstay their welcome. Comical situations are utterly feckless. Characters lie to ridiculous levels and act nothing like human beings. It's just another fluffy Adam Sandler production, the kind we get every year. Just don't watch it.
3/10
No comments:
Post a Comment