film review: going the distance
I was expecting Going the Distance to be a movie I would hate to hate, and could only hope that my adoration of Drew Barrymore and Justin Long would make a predictable plot line and relentless Hollywood sap tolerable.
In fact, Going the Distance is worth a second viewing, if only because the hysterical laughter in the cinema made it impossible to hear what were surely brilliant gags. Granted, I was in a theatre comprising mainly middle-aged women who don’t seem able to hear the words ‘blow job’ without erupting into laughter, but this is nonetheless a testament to its widespread appeal. I daresay it even has enough dirty jokes to keep a male companion entertained.
Of course, it has a happy ending. I’m sure that we have all come to expect this from any film best categorised as a romantic comedy by this point, but Going the Distance differs fundamentally in its exploration of compromising in relationships, without compromising yourself. Real life on/off couple, Barrymore and Long, portray likeable and quirky characters in Erin and Garrett respectively. Probably the only thing that annoyed me about the film was that this long distance relationship arose from a one night stand (which, as we all know from another film these two co-starred in, He’s Just Not That Into You, never actually happens).
Through Garrett’s disenchantment with the record industry he is working in, the film also manages to give justified kudos to UK band, The Boxer Rebellion, and has likely given the Brits a well-deserved number of MySpace friend requests.
Going the Distance is probably not going to change your life, but it is a worthwhile use of a couple of hours of your time. The crudeness is pushed just far enough to be hilarious without merely exploiting shock factor, such as Barrymore’s favourite improvised line from the film – “Shut up and lick” – and the token friends prove far more valuable than mere tokens. It capitalises on the awkward style of humour that has become so popular in recent years, and ranks just about as highly as any Michael Cera movie in its success in doing so.
