Production of the film began on March 2, 2010. Originally titled Holiday in Hawaii and then Pretend Wife,[4] it was produced by Sandler's Happy Madison Productions and released in North America on February 11, 2011, by Columbia Pictures. The film grossed over $214 million, becoming a box-office success. It received negative reviews with criticism for the plot and editing, but praise for its writing and acting. Just Go With It won two Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Actor and Worst Director.
Plot
Danny Maccabee discovers on his wedding day that his fiancée has been cheating on him. He is also shocked by her and her friends belittling him, and his family, and how she is only marrying him for his success. A distraught Danny proceeds to walk out and ends up at a bar. While drowning his sorrows, a woman approaches him and after inquiring on his ring, he lies of being in a unhappy marriage and wins her over.
Years later, Danny is a successful Los Angeles plastic surgeon and has changed his looks. He keeps his wedding ring and continues his guise feigning being in an unhappy marriage with women that he meets in order to seduce them without having to face long-term romantic commitment. The only woman aware of his scheme is Katherine Murphy, his office manager/assistant and a divorced mother of two. At a party, Danny removes his ring to tend to a child's scraped knee. Shortly afterwards, 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 and leaves, upset that he seemingly cheated on his wife with her. She reveals her own parents divorced because of infidelity.
Instead of telling Palmer the truth, Danny claims he is getting divorced from a woman named Devlin 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 to Hawaii. At the airport, they run into Danny's cousin Eddie, who is traveling in disguise as "Dolph Lundgren" whilst 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-life 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. Devlin invites Katherine and Danny out to dinner, and Danny and Katherine begin to fall in love with each other. Later, however, Palmer suggests to Danny that they marry 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, as he is gay. While Katherine is confiding in Devlin about her feelings towards Danny, Danny arrives and tells Katherine he is not marrying Palmer because he is in love with her, 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 being Russia, where it grossed $13,174,937.[7]
Critical response
Just Go with It received generally negative reviews. On Rotten 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] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[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."[3]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."[12]
Nicole Kidman was praised by critics as the sole bright spot.[13]
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.[15]
