My Invented Wife

On several occasions director Dennis Dugan and Adam Sandler have worked together, delivering such box office hits as "Happy Gilmore", "Big Daddy" or most recently "Child Heads". Qualitatively, these were not exactly masterpieces, but the audience seems to like them. No wonder that this fruitful collaboration will be continued. With "My Invented Wife" comes the latest work of the two in our cinemas and Adam Sandler fans can once again look forward to many jokes and a lot of hau-drauf humor.

The quasi-remake of the comedy classic "The Cactus Flower" starring Walter Matthau tells of successful plastic surgeon Danny Maccabee (Sandler), who has developed a very special method to get women into bed: he simply wears a wedding ring and claims to be trapped in a marriage where he endures emotional and physical cruelty. The ploy works just fine until Danny meets the attractive Palmer (Brooklyn Decker) and falls head over heels for her. Because Palmer will only commit to a relationship with Danny if his "wife"confirms to him that the marriage is on the rocks. Now Danny has to rely on the help of his assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston), who unceremoniously poses as his wife, who is going through a divorce. But what was planned as a one-time relief effort degenerates into a "family vacation" of a very special kind. And soon Danny has to wonder if Palmer is really the woman he wants to spend his future with.

Dennis Dugan is not a man for subtle gags and clever wit. He never has been, and probably never will be. As a result, the many good opportunities the original offers him are hardly used. There are clearly more successful gags than in Dugan's last work "Kindsköpfe", but really funny is "Meine erfundene Frau" unfortunately far too rarely. Surely, especially fans have very specific expectations of a comedy with Adam Sandler. That's exactly why the films in which he didn't live up to those expectations totally tanked at the box office, despite good reviews. But the fact that Dugan and Sandler give their audience exactly what they want doesn't make "My Invented Wife" a good movie. There are, however, a few nice moments to be discovered.

While male viewers can rejoice in the fact that curvy bikini model Brooklyn Decker has been very appealingly staged, female Sandler fans will have to settle for their idol or Nick Swardson hiding behind oh-so-funny glasses with thick lenses. As a little compensation, however, there is at least a nice touch of romance, for which the good chemistry that obviously prevailed on set between Sandler and Jennifer Aniston is responsible. But the small appearance of Nicole Kidman, who obviously had a lot of fun playing a completely over-the-top character for once, the good soundtrack, which features some Police songs in surprising versions, and the completely over-the-top side-swipes at plastic surgery-obsessed Americans also make for some really good laughs.

So as a typical Adam Sandler comedy, "My Invented Wife" already works very well. As a romantic comedy, however, not so much. Because the humor is just too raunchy and in places just annoying, which is especially lovers of Aniston's other films rather resentful. If you could laugh at "Zohan" and "Kindsköpfe", you will get your money's worth here again. But if you were perhaps expecting something more after the well-edited trailer, or are more of a fan of Jennifer Aniston and less of Adam Sandler, you should spare yourself this disappointment.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp