A movie you can go without

It’s hard to create an opening scene that reveals almost nothing about the main character; you’d think at least a little something would sneak in that could clue you in to the rest of the movie.

But “Just Go With It” miraculously avoids revealing any information about Danny (Adam Sandler) and his conflict until five minutes in, when we cut to his reaction outside the room of his gossiping bride-to-be and her bridesmaids, whose conversation sounds like the transcript of a loud drunk retelling of what his ex-wife and her friends sounded like.

Despite this, the film is actually at one of its high points. In the cheapest way possible, the scene eventually does help us sympathize with Danny.

That is, until he uses his ex-fiancee’s betrayal as a blank check for a screw-around montage. If any woman has ever taken the hand of a man she met at a bar and placed it on her breast when talking about the heart, feel free to correct me, but this wholly unbelievable gag that they were proud enough of to stick in the trailer was met with silence at my screening.

One scene clunks into the next, each filled with thoughts that don’t connect spewed from cobbled-together characters trapped in escalating situations that are impossible to believe. The only thing keeping me in my seat was the need to complete the review (you’re welcome).

The third act puts something at stake that you’re invested in, which is the relationship between Danny and Katherine (Jennifer Aniston). Unfortunately, the resolution is a simple, storybook wedding with gags spoon-fed to the audience and entire characters conveniently written away in Danny’s narration.

Finally, a note to Hollywood; placing a script in the hands of a swimsuit model does not make an actress.