The right and wrong ways to name a movie

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:50:00 +0000

The title of the latest Adam Sandler vehicle, "Just Go With It," gives almost no clue as to what the film is actually about. Is it a creepy thriller about date rape? A comedy about laid-off Nike executives? A drama about an unexpected pregnancy? Without Jennifer Aniston and Sandler's figures emblazoned across its poster art, the movie would be impossible to distinguish from the host of romantic comedies with interchangeable names that have been released over the past decade -- "Love, Actually," "Failure to Launch," "New in Town," "Fool's Gold" and this winter's "How Do You Know." Much has been written about how disappointing romantic comedies have become in the past few years, but has anyone noticed how cryptically generic their titles are?

“Just Go With It”: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman and a sheep

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:30:00 +0000

"Just Go With It" is an Adam Sandler comedy, which means it bears only a superficial relationship to the customary conventions of moviemaking, and also that there's no use getting all worked up about that. Now, those who collect pop culture effluvia in their heads (such as me) will be interested to know that this farce about a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who pretends to be married in order to get laid is in some sense a remake of the 1969 Walter Matthau-Ingrid Bergman-Goldie Hawn movie "Cactus Flower," which was itself based on a play by Abe Burrows which was itself based on a French play. (There will be a quiz.) In other words, Adam Sandler, despite all the all-American gags about poop and men getting kicked in the 'nads, is a cheese-eating surrender monkey who hates our freedom. Any further questions?

Salon.com > Just Go With It

The right and wrong ways to name a movie

“Just Go With It”: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman and a sheep