Who's In It: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker, Nick Swardson, Nicole Kidman, Dave Matthews
The Basics: Danny (Adam Sandler) is a soft-hearted plastic surgeon who has come to rely on a very dishonest way of scoring with women: he tells them he is in a horrible, sometimes-abusive, loveless marriage, turning himself into a tragic figure that is somehow super attractive to women he meets in bars. These Rhodes scholars then sleep with him and he has an excuse to never call them again. The whole thing backfires on him when he meets an impossibly gorgeous woman that he really likes (Brooklyn Decker) and she finds his "wedding band" in his pocket. He thinks fast, which apparently isn't his strong suit, and tells her he's divorcing his wife. Of course she wants to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, which brings his assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) into the mix. He asks her to become his fake wife, and the lie snowballs until they all end up in Hawaii performing CPR on sheep.</P.
What's The Deal: Please don't see this movie. Don't encourage anyone involved in the making of this film to ever attempt it again. It's a remake of Cactus Flower, starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, and Goldie Hawn, who won an Oscar for her role. Let me assure you that no one in this film will be in danger of accepting that gold statue for anything related to this film. If one of the producers of this film thought the original "needed updating" then it paints a very bleak picture of our society today--It's just a bunch of jerks running around being classless, unfunny and treating domestic workers poorly. Even picturesque Hawaii couldn't make this film worth looking at.
Is There A Doctor In The House? I went into this film excited for a lighthearted, fun flick that I didn't have to think about. I know this formula and am not opposed to it: I wanted some laughs, some warm fuzzies and for 2 people to kiss at the end. But every scene started according to formula and then quickly devolved into poorly-regurgitated tripe. I equate the experience to being hauled up to the apex of a rollercoaster and then plunging down too far too fast and blacking out. Over and over again, for two solid hours. This movie actually hurt my feelings.
So Why A Half A Star? Griffin Gluck plays Aniston's son Michael, and he is interesting to watch. He talks about the family's mailman, dolphins, and his absentee daddy, and I was totally on board. I can't wait for him to hit adolescence to see if he goes all Haley Joel on us. And the other reason is a spoiler: Nicole Kidman and Dave Matthews popped up in this film, and once I convinced myself I wasn't having an aneurysm, they made me laugh. Of course that was ruined by the film's typical and joyless take on everything, including their relationship, so I still cried myself to sleep last night over my lost time.