Blu-Ray Review: Adam Sandler’s ‘Just Go with It’ Not Worth the Time

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CHICAGO – In the realm of wasting time watching terrible movies, Adam Sandler provides a nearly 24 hour festival. His latest effort, just released on Blu-ray and DVD, is the horrendous, talent wasting “Just Go with It.”

HollywoodChicago.com Blu-Ray Rating: 1.0/5.0
Blu-Ray Rating: 1.0/5.0

Casting Jennifer Aniston, a decent comic actress, and Nicole Kidman, who worked with Stanley Kubrick (Kubrick!) seems like cruel and unusual punishment for the pair. Also the fact that this was loosely adapted from the far superior stage play and film “Cactus Flower” (1969), adds up to 116 long minutes of Adam Sandler doing the same tired Sandler-esque routine and ruination of an original source.

After running away from a potentially bad marriage as a young man, Danny (Sandler) finds that just wearing a wedding ring allows for relationship free hook-ups (just ask Anthony Weiner). Years later Danny is the best plastic surgeon in Los Angeles, aided in that pursuit by his associate Katherine (Jennifer Aniston). Surprisingly, Danny falls in love after a one-night stand with Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), but gets caught in the trap of his fake wedding ring scam.

Yukking it Up: Eddie (Nick Swardson), Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) and Danny (Adam Sandler) in ‘Just Go with It’
Yukking it Up: Eddie (Nick Swardson), Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) and Danny (Adam Sandler) in ‘Just Go with It’
Photo credit: Tracy Bennett for Columbia Pictures

To cover it all up, Danny enlists Katherine and her two children to be his fake family, explaining to Palmer that he’s going through a divorce. The extended new family, including Danny’s cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson), takes a get-to-know-each-other vacation to Hawaii. While there, Katherine runs into her old college rival Devlin (Nicole Kidman), and now two lies have to be formulated. How will this wacky situation resolve itself?

The only resemblance to the original story of Cactus Flower is the subterfuge (man pretends to be married to score), the rest is excised. Yeah, why use a script by I.A.L. Diamond (”Some Like it Hot”) when you have Allan Loeb (”The Dilemma”). In the original, Danny’s character was a dentist, but by changing his occupation to plastic surgeon, we get the Sandler freak show that he loves so much, disfigured plastic surgeon addicts with uneven eyebrows and breasts.

’Just Go with It’ on Blu-ray June 7th
‘Just Go with It,’ on Blu-ray June 7th
Photo credit: Columbia Pictures

It takes a second to adjust when you see Nicole Kidman enter the film. Is that her? Was this role part of the Cruise divorce settlement? Her husband is portrayed by pop star Dave Matthews, who must be desperate to break into the movies, that’s how much he was used as a scapegoat. Although on the other side of the coin, he does get to canoodle with Kidman.

The film is dull, unpolished and unfunny. There is a hula contest segment (they are in Hawaii, don’t you know), that seems to go on forever. And Sandler, for all his acting like a child in his films, doesn’t know how to handle real kid actors, he has zero chemistry with them. Cousin Eddie (Swardson) is “comic relief,” but sweats through every scene, and Brooklyn Decker looks good in bathing suit, which is the extent of her range.

The Blu-ray extras include the usual blooper reel, commentary and nine featurettes, if you need background for film class, plus 11 minutes of deleted scenes. That’s right, had they added those scenes the film would have clocked in at over 2 hours. To make another Kubrick reference, Alex from “Clockwork Orange” would have been brainwashed a lot earlier if he had been forced to watch everything in Just Go with It, with his eyes forced open.

Adam Sandler has now remade two much better original films, and trashed them, “The Longest Yard” and Cactus Flower. There much be a remake police force in Hollywood to stop him, indict him and never allow him to do it again.

”Just Go with It” was released by Columbia Pictures on Blu-ray and DVD June 7th. Featuring Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Brooklyn Decker, Nick Swardson and Dave Matthews. Screenplay by Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling, directed by Dennis Dugan. Rated “PG-13”

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2011 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

IHatePatrick's picture

You obviously don’t like

You obviously don’t like Sandler movies. We know all his movies are going to be similar, so if you don’t like them, then why review them? There are plenty of people who like his movies, myself included, and enjoy his campy style. He has made so many movies that are so unique, they need to compared to his other movies and not Eyes Wide Shut. Who gives a f**k about Kubrick? We are talking Sandler here.

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