Just Go With It is the latest film from Adam Sandler. While I do think that Sandler is genuinely funny, he’s past his hayday. Aside from Funny People, he hasn’t made a good movie in a long time. All his films have those few scenes that are laugh out loud funny but overall, films like Grown Ups, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Bedtime Stories etc, these are bad movies. There’s really no other way to put it.
Surprisingly, Sandler’s latest film Just Go With It, falls somewhere in between. It’s not exactly a stinker, but it’s not a great film either. The easiest way to put it is that it’s watchable. There’s an abundance of cliches and the film reeks of predictability, but at the end of the day, it’s a somewhat enjoyable film and easy enough to sit through. Put it this way, it’s innocent enough to make it worth a one time watch.
Just Go With It follows Adam Sandler‘s Danny, a plastic surgeon who falls in love with a girl named Palmer (Brooklyn Decker). All goes well at first until he lies to her about having a wife and kids. He tells her that he used to be married but is currently getting a divorce. To help keep the charade up, he enlists the help of his assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston). Eventually he also drags her kids into the lie and to keep the gig up, they all travel to Hawaii, Palmer included. While in Hawaii, Danny realizes that he may be chasing the wrong woman, but is it too late? Has he made a terrible mistake?
Click here to continue reading our theatrical review.
Sony continues its impressive list of Blu-Ray transfers with Just Go With It. The film is sharp, crystal clear and almost demo material, with only a few soft shots showing up occasionally. The 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer is downright dazzling. Detail is extraordinary in every sense. Textures, facial hair, environments, etc. Everything looks fantastic. The Hawaii setting also shines on the Blu-Ray with vibrant colours practically jumping off the screen. Lush greens and shimmering blues catch the eye while black levels are pretty much perfect. Fleshtones are the only thing that don’t quite come off as flawless but aside from that, it’s a great transfer.
Audio doesn’t disappoint either. It’s not particularly intense or agressive, but it’s handled quite well. The soundtrack comes through with strong clarity and dialogue is never drowned out. Effects in outdoor scenes like waves in Hawaii sound authentic and despite there being no surrounds, it’s a strong audio track that gets the job done.
For special features, we get a lot, but most of it is just fluff. It’s mainly comprised of 5 (or less) minute features that are shallow, uninteresting and almost frustrating to watch at times. Not really any bright spots here to be honest and everything is fairly lame. Check out what we get below.
- Audio Commentary with Adam Sandler, Nick Swarsdon, and some unidentified filmmakers. Sandler and Swarsdon are entertaining enough but the fact that the other filmmakers are never really identified is kind of odd. It’s a bit tough to make out who is saying what at times and while they share enough stories from the set, it’s a rather dull track.
- Audio Commentary with Director Dennis Dugan. With this track we get a pretty standard commentary. Dugan shares exactly what you’d expect, whether it be about the making of the film or semi-intresting trivia. A few silent parts make it a tad bit boring but overall I think it’s better than the first track.
- Laughter is Contagious: A basic gag reel, don’t even bother.
- Deleted Scenes: Nothing worth watching here.
- Adon: Living Plastic: Actor Kevin Nealon goes around LA with a hidden camera in full makeup and character. Skip it.
- Along Came a Prop Guy and Decker’s Got Gas: Two completely useless features that look at a couple pranks played on set.
- Dolph — Not the One From Rocky IV:Â A quick look at actor Nick Swardson. The actor talks to us about his role and how he created the character.
- Kevin Nealon: The Plastic Man: This feature looks at actor Kevin Nealon and the process he went through to get his make up done for the film.
- What’s a Dugan?: This short five minute feature takes a look at Dennis Dugan yet offers absolutely nothing of interest. We see the cast and crew praising him in what is another fluff piece.
- Look Who Else is in the Movie: Three more minutes of fluff looking at Rachel Dratch, Dan Patrick and Heidi Montag.
- Sneaky Kiki & Bart the Water Fart: A criminally short look at the film’s real stars, the children, Bailee Madison and Griffin Gluck.
- The Perfect Couple: Jen and Adam: Some praise for Jen and Adam along with a few behind the scenes interviews make up this feature.
- The Not So Perfect Couple: Nicole Kidman and Dave Matthews take the spotlight in yet another unexciting feature.
- Decker’s First Role: A short feature that focuses on none other than Brooklyn Decker and her first film role.
- Shooting Hawaii: A quick look at the shoot in Hawaii.
- Grand Wailea Promo: A commercial for Grand Wailea
- Previews
- BD-Live.
- Movie IQ.
- DVD Copy.
Just Go With It is a bit of a mixed bag. The film isn’t as bad as some of Sandler’s previous stinkers, but it’s still not a good film, not by any means. It’s watchable and will likely please Sandler fans more than those who don’t care for the actor but overall, the guy has seen better days. This may be passable for a date film or a one time watch but aside from that, this will likely go down as another forgettable outing for the once great comedian.
Published: Jun 14, 2011 09:11 pm