Just Go With It is a romantic comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. The plot follows Danny (Adam Sandler), a man who pretends to be in a bad marriage to get with girls. One day he meets The One (Brooklyn Decker) and things seem to be going well, but then she finds his old wedding ring and gets cold feet. From there Sandler enlists the help of Katherine (Jennifer Aniston), his assistant, to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife, in hopes of convincing Palmer (Decker), that she is not in fact a home wrecker.

Yes, the premise is absurd, and it gets to a point where none of it makes even the smallest bit of sense and it is easier to just not think about it. It only gets complicated by more weird and needless plot twists down the line that serve to make the film even harder to follow.

There are also some moments of what I will call from here on out “Sandler textbook creepiness”, where he openly objectifies women and is trying to date a woman half his age. This becomes a recurring joke through out the film that Danny and Palmer aren’t right for each other because they have nothing in common because of their age. It feels icky to think she is supposed to be 23 and he is presumably supposed to be in his 40’s if not older.

However, it is not all bad as there are some good jokes that are genuinely quite funny scattered in throughout that made me laugh. As a comedy film this film does its job and then some. Moreover, the interplay between Aniston and Sandler is also great and the two have a strong repour and a believable on-screen chemistry.

Overall, this is not as bad as a lot of the films Sandler was making around the same time, yes there are aspects that don’t age well and the premise is comically absurd, but if you’re a fan of Sandler you will find it funny and easy enough to watch. Not Sandler’s best, but also not his worst; by a large margin.

Pros.

Funny jokes

Sandler and Aniston have great chemistry

A strong central romance

Cons.

The icky creepiness

The incredibly dumb plot that gets dumber

3/5

Reviewed by Luke   

How To Be A Latin Lover is a romantic comedy film directed by Ken Marino. The plot follows Maximo (Eugenio Derbez), a man who has made a living off seducing and marrying old rich women. One day his wife realises that she wants a new toy boy and chucks him out, then Maximo goes to live with his sister Sara (Selma Hayek), and learns the value of family.

So, before we get into this I want to give this film applause for not being predictable. A lot of the time this sort of film has a very simple structure that it follows, but this one surprised me at several turns. I enjoyed how the film didn’t cave to convention and make Maximo realise the error of his ways by the end of the film. He starts the film as a toy boy and that is how he ends it; his character grows but not hugely. I was pleasantly surprised.

The comedy in this film was spot on for me and it had me laughing a lot, again as I often say humour is subjective, consistently throughout the film. I especially enjoyed Kristen Bell’s peppy cat lady character, I thought she was a scene stealer.   

Overall, the best thing about this film is its heart. It is warming to watch and the relationship between Maximo and his sister is quite heart-warming to watch. Also another great supporting role by Rob Lowe.

Pros.

It has a huge heart

It is funny

Rob Lowe is terrific

The relationship between Maximo and his sister is sweet

The film is surprising

Cons.

A little too long, a few pacing issues around the second act

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

What To Expect When You’re Expecting is a romance comedy film directed by Kirk Jones. The plot follows a group of women who all get pregnant around the same time. The film takes a New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day approach to storytelling choosing to have each story and character exist separately with minimal crossover with the others.

This is fairly inoffensive stuff; it is just a bunch of vaguely recognisable celebrities pretending to be pregnant and going through the various trials and tribulations surrounding that stage of life. It doesn’t leave much of any kind of impression and is not really memorable afterwards.

The comedy is okay, it made me laugh a handful of times throughout, again comedy is subjective, but this is by no means funny. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, even if I can’t remember any of their names and most of the characters just kind of blend together in my head.

Maybe this film would have had more impact on me if I was a parent myself, having never had a kid I can’t say how realistic it is in that regard, nor can I say whether they sugar-coated it.

Overall it is mindless fluff, fairly generic and unmemorable. Maybe genre diehard will get something out of it, but I didn’t.

Pros.

It has a few funny moments

The cast seem to be having fun

Cons.

It is dull

Its generic

You don’t care about the characters even enough to remember their names

The humour mostly didn’t land

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke    

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a comedy romance film directed by Joel Zwick. The plot sees a young Greek woman fall in love with a non-Greek man, will her family ever accept him? Will the star-crossed lovers get to be together?

So, this is another childhood favourite of mine, I watched it a lot when I was younger and recently decided to watch it again and see if it still held up: it does.

As far as standard rom coms go this is quite generic, there have been many other films with the same plot. Two people from different backgrounds getting together and their families having to adapt to the change; it is as old as time.

However, what makes this one stand out and be so beloved by me and others is the heart. This film has one of the biggest, purest hearts of any films I have seen for a long time. It is good comfort viewing to be sure, in these bleak times something like this can have even more of an impact.

All of the characters in this film are great and incredibly loveable, the film makes you feel like part of the family. You become immersed in this world and want to see this couple get together. Crucially what this film does that many other rom coms fail to do is make you care, making the emotional and romantic journey be something that affects us the audience.

Overall, this film is good for the heart, it will make you smile and has some of the best lines that are guaranteed to make you laugh.

Pros.

The family

The romance

Hilarious

Heartfelt

Cons.  

A little generic at times

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke