The Critically Hated Adam Sandler Movie Finding New Life On Netflix
There are essentially two types of Adam Sandler fans in the world — those who obsess over his lauded work in indie cinema (i.e. "Punch-Drunk Love," "The Meyerwitz Stories," and "Uncut Gems"), and those who never got over the man-child schtick Sandler has reveled in since the '90s (see "Billy Madison," his goofball golf comedy "Happy Gilmore," and dozens more). We're not here to pass judgement on either sect, for the record — because even as great as he can be on the indie scene, sometimes super-silly Sandler really is the best Sandler.
But for every super-silly fan-favorite hit Sandler releases into the cinematic wilds, just as many earn the wrath of venomous film critics with little love for the actor's antics. As it happens, many of those critically-reviled misfires were directed by frequent Sandler collaborator Dennis Dugan, including the project that first paired him with his "Murder Mystery" co-star Jennifer Aniston. Like many a Sandler miss, however, that film is now earning some serious love on Netflix, even working its way into the streamer's vaunted Top 10 rankings.
Just Go With It is a vintage Sandler rom-com for those who are into that
The film in question is Adam Sandler's 2011 rom-com "Just Go With It." While the film proved a major miss with critics (per Rotten Tomatoes), the combined power of Sandler's and Jennifer Aniston's fandoms helped make the film a commercial hit to the tune of $214 million in global ticket sales (via Box Office Mojo). And it seems those fans are now helping make "Just Go With It" a major hit in the streaming realm.
If you're wondering what turned critics off of "Just Go With It," it wasn't the work of Sandler or Aniston — several reviewers (including Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum) cited the duo's palpable on-screen chemistry as one of the film's highlights. Instead, part of the film's problem is its groan-inducing setup, which finds Sandler portraying Danny, a 40-something plastic surgeon who's spent his life lying to women about his marital status to sleep with them. As it happens in such stories, things get complicated when he meets the woman of his dreams, and the lie spins wildly out of control. So much so, that Danny ends up enlisting his assistant Katherine (Aniston) to play the role of his soon-to-be ex-wife. From there, matters proceed in about the way you'd expect from a cheeky, not entirely un-romantic Sandler comedy.
If you're into that sort of thing, you'll wanna add "Just Go With It" to your Netflix queue immediately.