It’s that time of the season again, when flowers and chocolates are suddenly priced as if they were gilded and men with foresight break up with their girlfriends (only to get back together after that dreaded day).

Of course, Hollywood plans on capitalizing on the holiday, releasing Just Go With It just a few days shy of Valentine’s Day, like last year’s aptly named Valentine’s Day.

The sixth collaboration between director Dennis Dugan and Adam Sandler, Just Go With It introduces the same family element present in their past collaboration, Big Daddy.

With no sign of the Dugan-Sandler train slowing down, the “quiet hitmaker” already has the upcoming Jack & Jill in the pipeline.

So, how does it fare?

Despite having plenty of slapstick and toilet humour, there’s a heart-warming story about falling unexpectedly in love that works well, thanks to the comedic performances by 2 of the best-paid comedic actors Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston.

Danny Maccabee (Sandler) is a successful plastic surgeon, often pretending to be in a failed marriage just to bed sympathetic women. The plan works extremely well for the commitment-phobe, just as its variation did in 50 First Dates, until the day he meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), an attractive teacher whom he believes is the woman of his dreams.

Problem? She thinks he’s married.

Desperate to hide the truth from her, he gets his divorced assistant Katherine (Aniston) to pretend to be his adulterous soon-to-be-ex-wife and even ropes in her 2 children to act as his kids.

They end up telling lie after lie to keep up the ruse and everything gets messy real quick when they go on a trip to Hawaii together. Complicating matters is Danny’s good friend, Eddie (Nick Swardson), who tags along.

Perhaps due to Sandler and Aniston’s long friendship (they’ve been friends for 20 years!), the pair shares a natural onscreen chemistry, carrying the movie through the many comedic moments as well as the softer, more emotional scenes.

The unique part of Just Go With It is that it doesn’t only focus on a couple. The family element plays a huge part in this movie with the 2 kids playing an important role in lots of the jokes.

Next to the leads, 11-year-old Bailee Madison does a fantastic job as Maggie, Katherine’s adorable daughter. Proving amazingly versatile for one so young, she goes from putting on accents to negotiating deals with her fake dad, and making fun of Palmer.

Screenwriter Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling hit it out of the ballpark with this one. The script is filled with eminently quotable laugh-out-loud lines, with unexpected cameos and plenty of pop culture references.

The Hills reality star, Heidi Montag, infamous for her multiple plastic surgeries, has a brief cameo in the movie, playing the wife of Danny’s plastic surgery obsessed client. It’s refreshing to see stars poke fun of themselves, and have fun at it.

Also, there’s a special appearance by another Hollywood star that we won’t spoil, giving a hilarious turn as Katherine’s old nemesis from her college years.

The one letdown of the film is the supporting cast. Despite such comedic flair shown in the movie, Swardson and Decker were disappointingly inadequate. Even though it’s model Decker’s debut movie role, she is bland and forgettable.

Just Go With It will have you bursting out in laughter and make you consider falling in love with your best friend.

As for us, we can’t wait for their next collaboration.

https://youtu.be/Jz5Ubqhru7g

Movie: Just Go With It
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Opens: 10 Feb 2011
Duration: 116 mins
Language: English
Age Rating: PG (Brief Nudity and Some Sexual References)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Director: Dennis Dugan
Cast: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston