| Just Go with It | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Dennis Dugan |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | Cactus Flower byI. A. L. Diamond Cactus Flower byAbe Burrows Pierre Barillet Jean-Pierre Gredy |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Theo van de Sande |
| Edited by | Tom Costain |
| Music by | Rupert Gregson-Williams |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million[1] |
| Box office | $215 million[2] |
Just Go with It is a 2011 Americanromantic comedy film directed byDennis Dugan, written byAllan Loeb and Timothy Dowling, and produced byAdam Sandler,Jack Giarraputo, andHeather Parry. It is a loose remake of the 1969 filmCactus Flower,[3] and stars Sandler andJennifer Aniston. It tells the story of a plastic surgeon who enlists his assistant to help him woo a sixth-grade math teacher.
Production of the film began on March 2, 2010. Originally titledHoliday in Hawaii and thenPretend Wife,[4] it was produced by Sandler'sHappy Madison Productions and released in North America onFebruary 11, 2011, byColumbia Pictures. The film grossed over $214 million, becoming a box-office success. It received negative reviews with criticism for the plot and editing, but some praise for its acting and writing.Just Go with It won twoGolden Raspberry Awards forWorst Actor (Sandler) andWorst Director (Dugan).
On his wedding day, Danny Maccabee overhears his fiancée admitting to her friends that she is cheating on him and is only marrying him because of his wealth. Distraught, Danny walks out and heads to a local bar. There, a woman approaches him but notices and asks about his ring. After claiming he is in an unhappy marriage, he wins her over.
Years later, Danny is a successfulplastic surgeon in Los Angeles and has improved his appearance. He keeps his wedding ring, using it to continue feigning being in an unhappy marriage so he can seduce women he meets without having to face long-term romantic commitment. The only woman aware of his scheme is Katherine Murphy, his office manager and a divorced mother of two.
At a party, Danny removes his ring to tend to a child's scraped knee. Shortly afterward, he meets Palmer, a young sixth-grade math teacher. They spend the night on the beach together, but Palmer finds Danny's wedding ring in his pocket the next morning. Palmer is furious that he apparently cheated on his wife with her, citing that her own parents divorced because of infidelity. Instead of telling Palmer the truth, Danny claims he is getting divorced from a woman named Devlin Adams after she cheated on him with a man named Dolph Lundgren. When Palmer insists on meeting Devlin, Danny convinces Katherine to pose as her and give them her blessing.
After Palmer overhears Katherine talking on the phone with her children, Michael and Maggie, she assumes they are Danny's as well and requests to meet them. Danny convinces Michael and Maggie to go along with the scheme, though they blackmail him to take them all toHawaii.
At the airport, they run into Danny's cousin Eddie, who is traveling in disguise as "Dolph Lundgren" while running from his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. To maintain the facade, Danny and Katherine are forced to bring him along.
At the resort in Hawaii, Katherine and Danny run into the real Devlin Adams, Katherine's frenemy from college, and her husband Ian Maxtone-Jones. Over time, Katherine becomes impressed by Danny and his way of interacting with her family. Danny, in turn, begins to develop feelings for Katherine.
As Danny is preparing to confess his feelings for Katherine, Palmer asks Danny to marry her the following day, having learned from a drunken Eddie of Danny's plans to get engaged. Though surprised by her proposal, Danny agrees.
Palmer asks Katherine if she still has feelings for Danny, which Katherine dismisses. Katherine runs into Devlin at a bar and admits that she pretended to be married to Danny to avoid embarrassment, and Devlin confesses that she is divorcing Ian, who is gay.
While Katherine is confiding in Devlin about her feelings for Danny, he arrives and announces he is not marrying Palmer because he is in love with Katherine, and they kiss. Palmer meets a professional tennis player who shares her interests, and Danny and Katherine eventually marry.
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 was Russia, where it grossed $13,174,937.[7]
Just Go with It received generally negative reviews. OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 19%, based on 138 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. 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] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[9] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[10]
The Telegraph namedJust Go with It in its "ten worst films of 2011" list, saying it is "a crass and overpopulated remake ofCactus Flower, served up as a mangy romcom of serial deceptions."[11]Christopher Orr ofThe 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."[3]Entertainment Weekly'sLisa Schwarzbaum wrote thatJust Go with It "is saved from utter disaster, though, by Jennifer Aniston", who has "expert comic timing" and "plays like a grown-up",[12] while Nicole Kidman was praised byPopmatters as the film's sole reasonable performance.[13]
| List of awards and nominations | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
| Golden Raspberry Awards | April 1, 2012 | Worst Actor | Adam Sandler(also forJack and Jill) | Won | [citation needed] |
| Worst Supporting Actor | Nick Swardson(also forJack and Jill) | Nominated | |||
| Worst Supporting Actress | Nicole Kidman | Nominated | |||
| Worst Screen Couple | Adam Sandler and eitherJennifer Aniston orBrooklyn Decker | Nominated | |||
| Worst Director | Dennis Dugan(also forJack and Jill) | Won | |||
| Teen Choice Awards | August 7, 2011 | Choice Movie: Romantic Comedy | Just Go with It | Nominated | [14] |
| 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 | |||
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releasedJust Go with It onDVD andBlu-ray on June 7, 2011. As of 2019, it has grossed $25,014,665 in North American DVD sales.[15]
the PG-13 film scored a strong "A-" rating
