Loin des yeux

Just watched this romantic comedy starring sometime off-screen couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. She's an aspiring reporter and he's a record company executive who's forced to guide crappy musical acts for his label. They're forced into a long distance relationship due to unforeseen circumstances. That's all I'll say of the story and just say that this was quite both a ribaldry hilarious and honestly touching movie that seem to ring true most of the time. With fine supporting turns from Jim Gaffigan, Jason Sudeikis, and Christina Applegate, not to mention the leads, I highly recommend Going the Distance. P.S. Nice use of some classic '80s songs like Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" or Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes' "I've Had the Time of My Life".

Erin (Drew Barrymore) is getting a late start on her dreams. At 31, she's finally finishing college with an internship at a New York newspaper. With just six weeks to go before returning to San Francisco to complete her education, she meets Garrett (Justin Long) over a classic game of Centipede.

With similar quirky senses of humor and more than a little disarming honesty, the two quickly pair up. From the beginning, they know that any relationship they have is limited to the next month and a half, so they promise to keep it light and casual. It doesn't work.

Six weeks later, Erin is packed to leave, and Garrett is pretending that's okay. Despite their best efforts, the two are soon burning up the phone lines between the coasts. Erin's sister, Corinne (Christina Applegate) is dismayed knowing that a relationship over such a distance is hard. In fact, it's all but impossible.

The plot seems very simplistic and I suppose that it is. But Garrett's eccentric roommate Dan (Charlie Day) and Erin's sister's personality quirks add real spice to most scenes, and the very real chemistry between the main characters (Barrymore and Long have had a real life on-off-on relationship) transcends the simplicity and makes Going the Distance something more.

Barrymore, as always, is capable, and her innate sweetness shines out from the screen. Long, perhaps best known as the "Mac guy" on those infamous Mac/PC commercials, proves an able partner. Day is good, and though Applegate's role is limited, she steals her scenes almost across the board. Look also for Jim Gaffigan in a small supporting part as Corinne's husband. His deadpan delivery is perfect.

BOTTOM LINE: Going the Distance was amusing without question. But what made it a good movie was the fact that, for all the genuine laughs, it quite simply rang true.

POLITICAL NOTES: None.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Going the Distance is rated R for "sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity." While this is not a movie for small children, the tenderness with which the central relationship is played and the integrity and genuine caring portrayed by each half of the central couple wouldn't be a bad lesson for teens to learn. I'd say this film is okay for teens 14 and up.

Just been to see this film before its official release and really, really enjoyed it. As the trailer suggests it's about a long distance relationship. The storyline is pretty straightforward. It's not the type of film that will have lots of complicated twists and turns, so in that context it's fairly predictable, but it's really well acted by the main characters, particularly Justin Long, Drew Barrymore and Christin Applegate. There are lots of laughs, and I mean laughing out loud, from both the men and the women in the audience. For me it's one of the funniest films I've seen that wasn't an out and out comedy. As the title of this review suggests, there's something for both men and women in this.

"Going the Distance" had potential, as I was intrigued by the concept of a film based on the concept of a couple trying to maintain a long-distance relationship. There was a sense of realism there, and those who have dealt with such relationships can understand Barrymore and Long as they experience that on screen.

But what had the potential of being more than just your typical romantic comedy was dragged down by several factors...

1. Profanity -- there is a role for profanity in movies, yet "Going the Distance" seemed to want to drop f-bomb after f-bomb for the sole purpose of shocking the viewer. There was absolutely no need for such salty language in this film.

2. Dropped subplots -- I wanted to see more in regards to Justin Long's job at the record company, as well as Drew Barrymore's relationship with the bartender in California.

3. Weird scenes -- one scene in particular (won't spoil it for you) seemed to only be in the film to give Jim Gaffigan a chance to show off his standup.

Overall, there is a good film within "Going the Distance." You have to hack through the lazy writing, etc., to find it.

Going The Distance was far better than expected. I saw the trailer for this movie before going to see it and I thought it looked good, but far too often with this type of film, all the best bits are in the trailer. This was not the case with this film, it was consistently funny, well acted and very good in general. Drew Barrymore and Justin Long were very believable as a couple (this may have something to do with them being together on off in real life). I thought that each actor played their part well, the friends of the main characters were all fantastic. Overall, this is well worth going to see and one of the funniest rom-coms I have seen in a long time.