My Invented Wife - Blu-Ray

Film: Director Dennis Dugan and Adam Sandler have already worked together several times and delivered such box office hits as Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy or most recently Kindsköpfe. Qualitatively, these were not exactly masterpieces, but the audience seems to like it. No wonder that this fruitful collaboration will continue. With My Invented Wife comes the latest work of the two in the trade 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 of getting women into bed: he simply wears a wedding ring and claims to be trapped in a marriage where he must endure emotional and physical cruelty. The ploy works just fine until Danny meets the attractive Palmer (Brooklyn Decker) and falls head over heels for her. That's because Palmer won't commit to a relationship with Danny unless his wife confirms to him that their 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 My Invented Wife 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 went down 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 a few nice moments to be discovered, though.

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 also 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 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, less so. 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'll get your money's worth here as well. But if you were perhaps expecting a little more after the well-edited trailer, or if you're more of a fan of Jennifer Aniston and less of Adam Sandler, you should steer clear of this disappointment.

Picture + Sound: The picturesque landscape of Hawaii and the curves of Brooklyn Decker come thanks to the high detail sharpness and good contrasts well, the color scheme is coherent and makes you want to immediately book a flight to paradise. In terms of sound, dialogue and the good soundtrack dominate the action, but the well-used ambient noise and some decent surround effects here and there add some dynamics to the tonal proceedings. Good!

Extras: The disc has as many as two audio commentaries to offer, with several overlaps right at the start. So if you really want to listen to a commentary on the film, you should opt for the one by Adam Sandler and Nick Swardson. The two are supported by other filmmakers, but since they do not introduce themselves you are also not mentioned on the cover, it can not be said here exactly who sits behind the mic next to the two actors. The fact is that the commentary is very entertaining, in addition to many gags but also has some interesting information to offer and commendably is also provided with optional German subtitles. Good.

Continues with just under 4 minutes of surprisingly unfunny spoilers, as well as 16 minutes of dropped scenes, which even have a laugh or two to offer. Thirteen featurettes, some of them very short, with a total running time of just under 53 minutes, then go into more detail about the filming. Funny gags, which were organized on the set (so Brooklyn Decker loaded a fart app on her iPhone for a scene and the designer had a lot of fun with a plastic spider), a detailed look at how Kevin Nealon became the plastic man Adon, portraits of the actors and their characters and a look at the filming locations in Hawaii, all this is offered to the viewer here. Film clips, interviews, more spoilers and shots from the shoot alternate. Every now and then there are some very amusing moments, for example when the (male) crew is about to hand Brooklyn Decker the towel after her slow-motion-stepping-out-of-the-sea-scene. All in all, however, the respective contributions are simply too short and often too superficial to be able to offer really in-depth information about the shooting. Entertaining it is, but a real added value is not offered to Blu-Ray buyers here.

Conclusion: My Invented Wife is a typical Adam Sandler comedy, in which good gags alternate with derbren Brachialhumor. Fans of the comedian will definitely get their money's worth. The Blu-Ray is technically on a very good level, the extras are rich, but overall very superficial. Nevertheless: for fans definitely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp