Salon

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?

It’s baffling that a studio would want to slap a film it’s trying to sell with the most boring, forgettable name conceivable. Is there something going on that we don’t know about? And, for that matter, what distinguishes a good movie title from a bad one? To find out, we called up Matthew Cohen, the founder of Matthew Cohen Creative, a company that has worked on the marketing campaigns of 2007 best picture winner “No Country for Old Men,” 2008 best picture nominee “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and this year’s Oscar favorite, “The King’s Speech.”

Read his response: http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/film_salon/index.html?story=/ent/movies/film_salon/2011/02/11/just_go_with_it_movie_title_interview