REUTERS/Eric Thayer
Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler team up for a rom-com full of lies, deceit and belly buttons. But is it enough to make audiences “go with it?” The reviews are in.
Aniston and Sandler have both seen their fair share of cinematic flops in recent years. (Remember Bounty Hunter and Grown Ups? No? That’s because you didn’t see them.) In Just Go With It, the pair attempts to combine their comedic strengths with some eye candy (model Brooklyn Decker) and a big-name cameo (Nicole Kidman) to create a passable remake of the 1969 film Cactus Flower.
So did it pay off, or are the critics reeling? Because we love you, NewsFeed scoured the web to find the best — and worst — reviews, so you can know before you go:
Mary Pols, TIME
Pols seemed prepared to dislike the film, but instead dished out compliments to Aniston for a role that she called “her best work in years,” while bashing Sandler’s character for being “almost unbearable.” As for the film itself, she says, “The charade presents many opportunities for laughs, some involving broad physical comedy, quite a bit of which is centered around the Los Angeles obsession with plastic surgery, others actual wit with words. I’d never call Just Go With It sophisticated, but it’s got a good-natured vibe.”
In the end, the characters and their flaws grew on Pols, and the chemistry between Aniston and Sandler seemed to win her over. “[By the end], I’d started to believe it possible that Katherine (Aniston) might be good for Danny (Sandler), and vice versa. Maybe even as good as Aniston is for Sandler and he for her.”
NewsFeed Translation: Take the film for what it is (mediocre), but Aniston makes it watchable.
(More on TIME.com: See photos of the Best Picture Oscar nominees)
Scott Tobias, NPR
By focusing on the differences between Just Go With It and its predecessor, Cactus Flower, Tobias bashed the movie’s director (Dennis Dugan) and screenwriters (Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling) for creating another Sandler FAIL, saying, “The film writes itself into a corner early and just loiters there, looking vaguely embarrassed.”
Improvisational at times, Tobias points out how a bit of ad-libs quickly snowballed into one big mess. “Just Go With It is actually a farce, requiring the sort of discipline and timing that is uniquely ill-suited to Sandler’s brand of half-hearted quipping.”
NewsFeed Translation: Don’t waste your money.
(More on TIME.com: See the great performances from the year in film)
A.O. Scott, The New York Times
Scott started his review by proclaiming that he couldn’t remember the film’s name before he saw it, and he most definitely wouldn’t after: “The movie is likely to live on in my memory (to the extent that it will) as ‘that one with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston in Hawaii.’ Which pretty much sums up both the appeal and the limitations of this passive-aggressive, naughty but nice, sometimes obnoxious and occasionally quite funny late-winter romantic comedy.”
Ouch. No film wants to be forgettable, but Scott was able to see past the overall silliness to say that in the end the movie is, “not so terrible.” But of course, that also means it’s nothing special.
NewsFeed Translation: Predictable and forgettable.
(More on TIME.com: See the top 10 movies of 2010)
Survey says: If you’re looking for a little escapism this weekend, and are willing to accept the film for it’s ridiculous plot, silly one-liners and mediocre acting, Just Go With It could be an acceptable choice. But NewsFeed thinks we’ll pass on this one, and maybe put it on our NetFlix queue when it’s released — but only to see Brooklyn Decker in a bikini.