Just Go With It is a 2011 film starring Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, and Nicole Kidman. The film tells the story of Doctor Daniel “Danny” Maccabee, a plastic surgeon who discovers his bride-to-be was cheating on him. Leaving her at the alter, Danny is unable to part with his wedding ring, the symbol of his almost life. He uses it to trick women into one night stands, telling them that he is getting divorced and using their sadness to manipulate them into sex. During one of these attempts, he meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker) a sixth grade math teacher.
Surprisingly, Danny feels a real connection with Palmer. He wants to see her again. When she catches sight of his “wedding ring”, she insists on meeting his wife before they begin to date as he fibs and says that they are “in the process of getting divorced”.
Scrambling, Danny uses his assistant Katherine Murphy (Jennifer Aniston). Going through the standard movie-makeover, Katherine transforms herself into the perfect, intimidating, hot-ex wife. The meeting goes smoothly, and the con is almost over except Katherine gets a call from her kids leading Palmer to believe that Danny has children.
Having gone through her own parents divorce, Palmer insists on meeting the whole family and trying to make the transition of her dating Danny smooth for everyone. Then, Katherine’s kid cons Danny into taking them to Hawaii to swim with the dolphins by saying that Palmer is the reason the trip had to be put off in the first place.
Backed into a corner, Danny, Palmer, Katherine and her kids go on a “family vacation” to Hawaii along with Danny’s brother somehow. No one seems at all concerned that Danny is going this far to sleep with a woman, or about whether or not Palmer deserves to know the truth.
While on the trip, Katherine runs into her old sorority sister Devlin (played by Nicole Kidman) whose name she has been using for her con with Danny. Feeling intimated by Devlin, Katherine lies and says that Danny is her husband.
Eventually, Palmer falls for Danny, and the two decide to get married even though Katherine and Danny have bonded even more during their time tricking Palmer. Danny decides that he can’t go through with it last minute, and of course, realizes that Katherine is the right woman for him.
Aside from some questionable life choices from Danny and Katherine, as well as Palmer seemingly never finding the truth out about the whole thing, the film is a cute romantic comedy. Sandler and Aniston play off each other nicely in a genre they both do well in, and Decker who most people will know from Netflix’s Grace and Frankie gives a whole lot of heart with the character she’s working with.
What’s also refreshing is that the movie never really pits the two women against each other, and there’s no “fighting” over the guy. There are a few moments where Sandlers off-putting humor comes through, but its almost tamed down compared to previous films of his. What’s more, Nicole Kidman gets to show off her comedy chops something that isn’t really done too often for her.
Katherine’s son and daughter Maggie and Michael are played by Bailee Madison (most known for her role as young Snow in ABCs Once Upon A Time) and Michael who is played by Griffin Gluck (netflix’s Locke & Key).
If you’re looking for some mindless fun, it will keep you in laughs for a little bit at the very least.
