Going the Distance
***
“Going the Distance” is a common tale of boy meets girl, but girl lives thousands of miles away. It’s a surprise that this common tale has not yet been the main premise for a movie, at least not to my knowledge, and they pull it off wonderfully.
Sure the movie is formulaic. They meet in a special way (a game of Centipede at a bar) and run into a conflict (she’s only in New York for a summer internship). There is no mind-blowing plotline, no epic Shyamalan twist, but Going the Distance is funny, and it has heart. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t in a rush to see this movie. As a fan of both Barrymore‘s and Long‘s work, it looked good, but I wasn’t expecting to laugh as hard as I did, mostly spawning from simple dialog instead of broad physical gags, namely the phone sex scene. More and more comedies are leaning towards vulgarity to make us laugh, and I’m happy to say this comedy is one of them.
Funny moments also come from the support system: Erin (Barrymore, Wedding Singer) confides in her older sister Corinne, while Garrett (Long, Waiting) turns to his drinking buddies. The support isn’t really support at all, as Corinne (Applegate, Anchorman) constantly feeds Erin nuggets of paranoia and logic to show her that long distance just doesn’t work. On top of that, Corinne has a hyperactive four-year old who can only be tamed with the word “Statue.” Meanwhile, it’s impossible for Garrett to carry a conversation with his long-distance girlfriend without getting harassed and mocked by his male brethren, his coworker Box (Jason Sudeikis, “SNL“) who offers completely inapplicable bromantic advice, and his omnipresent roommate Dan (Charlie Day, “It‘s Always Sunny in Philadelphia“).
Barrymore is no stranger to the Rom-Com, but while her past flings possess a more fairy-tale quality, her latest on-screen relationship is the most realistic. Justin Long is awesome at playing the awkward everyman, and given his inability to figure out how a tanning salon operates, he is a regular Ross Gellar.
The film ends abruptly, but it’s not the destination it’s the journey, right? I heard Justin Long interview on a morning radio show in San Diego, and he confessed his fear of this particular movie’s reception. Fear not, Mr. Mac, this movie is not a PC.
