Going The Distance

Going The Distance is such a dirty little tease. It wants to get my attention and win me over with its constant references to 80's movies and music just like Katy Perry "just happens" to lean over in front of the TV camera while barely wearing a top that covers only 25% of her bodacious body. And, I can't look away. What a tart!

Drew Barrymore (another reason I cannot look away) stars as Erin - an intern who dreams of becoming a newspaper reporter. She's spending the summer in NYC, but meets the perfect guy, Garrett (Justin Long), just a few weeks before heading home to California. The two decide they'll just go with the flow and keep it light, but, upon parting, decide to make a go of having a long distance relationship.

Can Garrett and Erin keep the flames of passion alive across the country and three different time zones?

Couldn't they give the character a better name than Garrett?

While it is completely predictable and cliché overall, Going The Distance is hilarious in many individual scenes. It's the first movie I can ever remember being less than the sum of its parts.

Going The Distance benefits from a fantastic supporting cast of Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate, Jim Gaffigan, Charlie Day, Kelli Garner and Ron Livingston. Along with Barrymore and Long, they keep us laughing as writer Geoff LaTulippe provides hilarious interactions among them and biting, smart dialogue so many twentysomethings try to duplicate when hanging out at their favorite bar. I wish he put as much effort into the main story.

In Going the Distance, you can see every twist coming from a mile away because you have seen each one employed in every romantic comedy known to mankind (I have a feeling even romantic comedies on other planets probably use the same situations, but in Klingon instead of English).

You know what will happen before walking into the theater. Garrett and Erin will pine away for each other and make trips to see each other as often as possible with growing intervals between each one. We'll get plenty of scenes of them looking at the clock and the phone and wishing they could be together. Then, someone will be tempted by a cute, available warm body that works at the same place they do, and miss a phone call. Think that might lead to a fight? Of course, it will.

On again, off again, possible still together but they won't admit it couple Barrymore and Long have some good chemistry together, which helps the audience get through the boring parts, and elevates some of the more routine stuff to curious (it's not good enough to be interesting), but they are overshadowed in every scene by the best supporting cast of the year, which makes you wish you could see less of Long and Barrymore (but that would be a different movie).

Going The Distance is rated R for sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity.