Going The Distance
Review
by Sean Lynch
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Going The Distance
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When it comes to romantic comedies, there is very little terrain
that has yet to be covered. While most don't even bother to fight the
contraints of formula (and make a very tidy profit in doing so), there
are the maginalised few who try to look outside of the box.
Going The Distance,
thankfully, stumbles into the latter category : harnessing the benefits
of the formula, while borrowing a handful of tips from "Judd Apatow's
School Of Knocked Up Romance".
Needless to say, there's plenty of foul mouthed riffing - however, that's exactly what makes Going The Distance feel like a natural, genuinely endearing, realistic relationship based piece of entertainment.
Going The Distance follows Drew Barrymore as Erin whose wry wit and unfiltered honesty charms the pants off the newly single Garrett (Ed's Justin Long) over beer, bar trivia and breakfast the next morning.
The
sparks soon turn into a major summer fling, but things go haywire when
Erin heads home to San Francisco leaving Garrett behind in New
York City. However, as we all know, long distance is tough!
Six weeks go by and while Garrett's friends, Box (SNL's Jason Sudeikis) and Dan (Always Sunny In Philidelphia's
Charlie Day), joke about his full time relationship with his cell
phone, they clearly don't like losing their best drinking buddy to yet
another romance.
Things aren't easy for Erin either, with her
overprotective married sister (a scene stealing Christina Applegate)
doing her darndest to keep Erin from heading down an all too familiar
road.
But true love conquers all - as does true comedy.
While
real life lovers, Barrymore and Long, deliver an enormous amount of
realistic chemistry - the laughs provided by the supporting players
(Sudeikis, Day and Applegate) is what set this puppy apart
from most.
Much like She's Out Of My League and 40 Year Old Virgin, Going The Distance proves once again that the most valuable commodity and career building roles aren't the leads... it's the best friend! 4 out
of 5
Going The Distance
Australian release: 2 September,
2010
Official
Site: Going The Distance
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Kristen Schaal, Christina Applegate, Charlie Day
Director: Nanette Burstein
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