Just Go with It

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 fiancee is cheating on him, and was only marrying because he was going to be a doctor and provide her with a comfortable lifestyle. He goes to drink alone at a bar, where a young, beautiful woman (Minka Kelly) walks in. She sees that Danny has a wedding ring on his hand, and asks him about his wife and he says how she recently left him for someone else, and the woman from the bar ends up sleeping with him.

Twenty-three years later in 2011, 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 and best friend Katherine Murphy (Jennifer Aniston), a divorced mother of two. At a party, Danny meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), a 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 and does not want to be an adulteress herself.

Instead of telling her the truth, Danny tells her that he is getting divorced from a woman named Devlin, named after Devlin Adams who Katherine had mentioned was an old college sorority nemesis. Danny tells Palmer that they are getting divorced because she cheated on him with a man named "Dolph Lundgren" (not the actor). Palmer then insists on meeting Devlin. Danny asks Katherine to pose as "Devlin" and they go shopping on Rodeo Drive 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 with the ruse and gives them the aliases of "Kiki Dee" and "Bart" respectively.

Palmer meets the kids, who then 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. To maintain the lies, Danny and Katherine are forced to bring him along.

At the resort in Hawaii, Danny tells Eddie 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), who allegedly invented the iPod. Because of Katherine and Devlin's long-time rivalry, Katherine introduces Danny as her husband rather than admit she is a single mother.

Later, Palmer decides to spend time with Katherine so that Danny can spend more time with the kids. Danny teaches Michael how to swim, and Katherine and Palmer look on in admiration.

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, though he nearly kills the animal in the process. 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 (which she had mentioned to him earlier) 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.

Production

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.

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.

Release

The film was released in theaters in the United States and Canada on February 11, 2011.

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.

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

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a rating of 18%, based on 136 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. 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." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

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." 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." 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."

Home media

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released Just Go with It on DVD and Blu-ray disc on June 7, 2011. It has so far grossed $14,535,543 in North America DVD sales.