Just Go with It

Just Go with It is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling and starring Adam Sandler (who also co-produced the film), Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Nick Swardson and Brooklyn Decker. It is based on the 1969 film Cactus Flower, along with the 2005 Bollywood movie, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?, which are themselves an adaptation of the 1965 Broadway stage play written by Abe Burrows, which in turn was based upon the French play Fleur de cactus.

"Pretend Wife" redirects here. It is not to be confused with The Make-Believe Wife.
Just Go with It
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDennis Dugan
Produced by
Screenplay by
Based onCactus Flower
by I. A. L. Diamond
Cactus Flower
by Abe Burrows
Pierre Barillet
Jean-Pierre Gredy
Starring
Music byRupert Gregson-Williams
CinematographyTheo van de Sande
Edited byTom Costain
Production
company
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • February 8, 2011 (2011-02-08) (New York City)
  • February 11, 2011 (2011-02-11) (United States Of America)
Running time
117 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$80 million[1]
Box office$215 million[2]

Production of the film began on March 2, 2010. The film was released on February 11, 2011, by Columbia Pictures in North America. The film grossed over $214 million, making it a box office success. However, it received negative reviews from critics and won two Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Actor and Worst Director.

Plot

In 1988, Daniel "Danny" Maccabee (Adam Sandler), a 22-year-old man, leaves his wedding right before the ceremony is about to begin after learning that his fiancée is cheating on him, and was only marrying him because he was going to be a doctor. He goes to drink alone at a bar, where a young, beautiful woman walks in. She sees that Danny has a wedding ring on his hand, and asks him about his wife, to which he explains how she recently left him for someone else, and the woman from the bar ends up sleeping with him.

Twenty-three years later, Danny (now 45 years old) is now a successful plastic surgeon in Los Angeles who feigns unhappy marriages to get women, and to avoid romantic commitment that may lead to heartbreak. The only woman aware of his schemes is his office manager/assistant and best friend Katherine Murphy (Jennifer Aniston), a divorced mother of two. At a party, Danny meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), a young sixth grade math teacher, without his wedding ring on, and they have a connection together. The next morning, she finds the ring and assumes he is married. She refuses to date him because her parents divorced due to adultery.

Instead of telling her the truth, Danny tells her that he is getting divorced from a woman named Devlin because she cheated on him with a man named "Dolph Lundgren" (not the actor). When Palmer insists on meeting Devlin, Danny asks Katherine to pose as "Devlin" and they go shopping for new clothes to dress like a trophy wife.

A made-over Katherine/"Devlin" then meets with Danny and Palmer and gives them her blessing. However, after hearing Katherine talking on the phone with her kids, Palmer assumes that her kids are Danny's as well. Danny then privately meets with Katherine's kids, Maggie (Bailee Madison) and Michael (Griffin Gluck), to get them to play along and gives them the aliases of "Kiki Dee" and "Bart" respectively. Danny accepts their demands for being his fake children.

Palmer meets the kids at a Chuck E. Cheese's-like play center where Maggie has adopted a fake British accent, and Michael acts very morose. They blackmail Danny in front of Palmer to take them all to Hawaii. At the airport, they are all surprised by Danny's goofball cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson), who has adopted an Austrian disguise as the "Dolph Lundgren" that Danny had made up earlier because he wants to go to Hawaii as well. To maintain the lies, Danny and Katherine are forced to bring him along.

At the resort in Hawaii, Danny tells Eddie that he is considering asking Palmer to marry him. Katherine and Danny also run into the real-life Devlin Adams (Nicole Kidman) and her husband Ian Maxtone-Jones (Dave Matthews). Because of Katherine and Devlin's long-time rivalry, Katherine introduces Danny as her husband rather than admit she is a single mother. Over time, Katherine is impressed by Danny and his way of fun with her kids.

Katherine again runs into Devlin, who invites her and Danny out to dinner. Eddie agrees to take Palmer out to dinner so that Danny can go with Katherine. Since he is supposed to be a sheep salesman, Eddie's cover is nearly blown when he is forced to save the life of an actual sheep who choked on a toy whistle. At dinner, Devlin asks Danny and Katherine to tell each other what they admire most about each other, and, as Danny and Katherine talk, they start to feel a connection. Later, when Palmer and Eddie return from their dinner date, Palmer suggests that she and Danny get married now, since a drunken Eddie told her about Danny's plans of engagement. Danny and Katherine are both surprised by her proposition, but Danny ultimately agrees. Danny later calls Katherine regarding his confusion, but Katherine says that she will be taking a job in New York City to get a fresh start to her life.

The next day, Palmer confronts Katherine about Danny's feelings for her, which Katherine dismisses. Katherine then runs into Devlin at a bar and admits that she pretended to be married to Danny to avoid embarrassment. Devlin confesses that she is divorcing Ian because he is gay and also that he did not invent the iPod, but made his money by suing the Los Angeles Dodgers after getting hit by a foul ball. Katherine confides in Devlin about being in love with Danny, but then Danny shows up behind her, saying that he is not marrying Palmer and that he is in love with Katherine. Meanwhile, on the plane ride back to the mainland, Palmer meets a professional tennis player (Andy Roddick) who shares her interests. Sometime later, Danny and Katherine get married.

Cast

Production

Originally titled "Holiday in Hawaii", and then "Pretend Wife",[3] it was released as "Just Go with It".

The film was shot in Los Angeles and the Hawaiian islands of Maui and Kauai between March 2, 2010, and May 25, 2010. The film is deliberately vague about which Hawaiian island its latter portion depicts; thus, the characters hike across a rope bridge on Maui and arrive in the next scene at a spectacular waterfall on Kauai, rather than the ordinary irrigation dam and pond on Maui where the actual trail terminates.

The characters stay at a Hawaiian hotel called the Waldorf Astoria. In actuality, the film was shot at the Grand Wailea in Maui, which is owned by Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts.[4]

One of the film's in-jokes is the scene wherein Decker's character meets her obvious soulmate—professional tennis player Andy Roddick—as Decker and Roddick are actually married.

"Every Car You Chase" by Party Ben, a mashup of "Every Breath You Take" by the Police and "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, is one of the main music themes.

Reception

Box office

Just Go with It grossed $103 million in the U.S. and Canada and $111.9 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $214.9 million.[5]

The film topped its opening weekend box office with $30.5 million.[6] The biggest market in other territories being Russia, where it grossed $13,174,937.[7]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 19%, based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 3.77/10. The site's consensus reads: "Just Go With It may be slightly better than some entries in the recently dire rom-com genre, but that's far from a recommendation."[8] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.[10]

The Telegraph named Just Go with It in its "ten worst films of 2011" list, saying it is "a crass and overpopulated remake of Cactus Flower, served up as a mangy romcom of serial deceptions."[11] Christopher Orr of The Atlantic noted that "the title itself seems a plea for audiences' forbearance" and is part of a disappointing trend involving "the reimagining of good, if perhaps not quite classic, films associated with the latter 1960s and early 1970s."[12] Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote that Just Go With It "is saved from utter disaster, though, by Jennifer Aniston" who has "expert comic timing" and "plays like a grown-up."[13]

Nicole Kidman was praised by critics as the sole bright spot.[14]

Accolades
List of awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipients Result Ref.
Golden Raspberry Awards April 1, 2012 Worst Actor Adam Sandler (also for Jack and Jill) Won
Worst Supporting Actor Nick Swardson (also for Jack and Jill) Nominated
Worst Supporting Actress Nicole Kidman Nominated
Worst Screen Couple Adam Sandler and either Jennifer Aniston or Brooklyn Decker Nominated
Worst Director Dennis Dugan (also for Jack and Jill) Won
Teen Choice Awards August 7, 2011 Choice Movie: Romantic Comedy Just Go with It Nominated [15]
Choice Movie Actor: Romantic Comedy Adam Sandler Nominated
Choice Movie Actress: Romantic Comedy Jennifer Aniston Nominated
Choice Movie Breakout: Female Brooklyn Decker Won
Choice Movie: Chemistry Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston Won

Home media

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released Just Go with It on DVD and Blu-ray disc on June 7, 2011. As of 2019, it has grossed $25,014,665 in North America DVD sales.[16]

References
  1. Horn, John (February 10, 2011). "Word of Mouth: 'Just Go With It' plays the demographics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  2. "Just Go With It (2011)". The Numbers. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
  3. Borys Kit (2009-12-08). "Sandler, Aniston playing 'Pretend'". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  4. "Grand Wailea in Maui: The Setting for "Just Go With It"". FiveStarAlliance.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
  5. "Just Go with It". boxofficemojo.com. IMDB. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  6. "Just Go with It Weekend Grosses". boxofficemojo.com. IMDB. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  7. "Just Go with It Foreign Totals". boxofficemojo.com. IMDB. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  8. "Just Go with It". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  9. Just Go with It Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  10. John Young (February 13, 2011). "Box office report: 'Just Go With It' barely beats 'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never' in photo finish". Entertainment Weekly. the PG-13 film scored a strong “A-” rating
  11. "Ten worst films of 2011". The Telegraph. London. December 15, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  12. Orr, Christopher (11 February 2011). "'Just Go With It': A Sad Union of the Saccharine and Scatological". The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  13. Schwarzbaum, Lisa (11 February 2011). "Movie Review: Just Go With It". Entertainment Weekly.
  14. Solis, Jose (13 June 2011). "Not Even Nicole Kidman Completists Should Suffer Through 'Just Go With It'". Popmatters.
  15. "Blake Lively Wins Choice TV Drama Actress The Teen Choice Awards! Here Are More Winners!". Hollywood Life. August 7, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  16. "Just Go With It". The Numbers. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
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