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Saturday, September 4, 2010

MOVIE REVIEW 
Going The Distance
Distance And Fond Hearts: Never The Twain Shall Meet

A messy situation: Drew Barrymore as Erin and Justin Long as Garrett in "Going The Distance", directed by Nanette Burstein.  The film opened yesterday in the U.S. 
Warner Brothers

by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW
Saturday, September 4, 2010

New York and San Francisco.

Both attractive yet dissimilar.  One is international, fast-paced and highly diverse.  The other is scenic, slow-paced and beautiful.

None of these aspects of the two cities is on display in Nanette Burstein's comedy "Going The Distance", which opened yesterday in the U.S. and Canada.  The film's focus is on a long-distance relationship between Erin (Drew Barrymore), a journalist who lives in San Francisco, and Garrett (Justin Long), who lives in New York.

There's little excitement in the film, which distilled to its essence features bodily fluids and barbecue sauce.  Neurotic women, juvenile men who still think they are 15 going on 6 1/2, and cynical married men -- cartoon characters all.  They are all here.  The problem with "Going The Distance" is that despite the likable leads, the rest of this retread of a film and much of its script (by Geoff LaTulippe) is neither interesting nor funny. 

For starters, the film always feels as if it is concluding, not developing.  The editing (by Peter Teschner) is at times very abrupt, and those who saw the film's trailer will not see some of its content in the film.  Nor will they feel the energy or flavor of two great American cities.  Beyond steady employment and the fear of change, why is it hard for one to leave a city to move to another for the one you love?  I know it's a comedy, but why aren't those questions and intangibles adequately shown or discussed in "Going The Distance"?  And why is "Sleepless In Seattle" a far better film?  (And yes, for all its warm, fuzzy corniness, it is.)

Here, Erin has few if any friends, beyond the kooky Corinne (Christina Applegate), and Garrett doesn't appear to have much of a day job.  (The economy would be a big factor as well, which goes largely unspoken in this film.  Journalistic casualties are hardly documented.)  Again, economy aside, where's the difficulty in leaving for Erin and Garrett?  The director assumes that we know enough about San Francisco and New York as American cities and about the complexities of love, togetherness and individual self-interest to understand the dilemmas of Erin and Garrett.  After all, on the surface they appear relatively happy people.  Not shiny happy, but happy enough.

Yours truly and countless millions around the globe have experienced long-distance relationships.  Some thrive.  Some don't.  And for me, the same two cities in the film were involved.  A New Yorker, I loved San Francisco to pieces, and my girlfriend at the time was living there.  She and I would take turns flying roughly every three months from our respective cities to see each other.  Within a year, I couldn't take it anymore.  I headed to San Francisco, and have never looked back.  The Big Apple however, is still the most irresistible city on Earth.  Its energy and appeal are unparalleled.

In "Going The Distance" it is often difficult to tell who is coming and going and which city Erin and Garrett are in.  (My cheeky little hunch tells me that they are both in Los Angeles for most of this movie.)  Both New York and San Francisco are so truncated here that we get little sense of them beyond their fleeting backdrops.  In other films these cities are distinct characters even if they actually have little to do with the underlying fabric of the story at hand.  Here, where both cities are heavily advertised in the trailer, shown playfully in the opening credits and mentioned throughout the film, they are virtually invisible.

Ms. Barrymore and Mr. Long were part of the large ensemble cast of 2009's "He's Just Not That Into You", though they never met.  (It appears that the "Going The Distance" filmmakers are Just Not Into New.)  This film seems like a odd reshuffle of character interactions from last year's New Line Cinema romance film. 

Hollywood romantic comedies with 20-and 30-somethings all feel and look the same, with the same people, the same bad jokes and way past tired sight gags.  There's little that is new, including the 1980s iconography and the "There's Something About Mary" moments.  That trend continues here.  (Rent "(500) Days Of Summer" if you want an American romantic comedy that delivers fun, fresh ideas and sincerity.)

In "Going The Distance" the film, not its main characters, goes halfway.  The filmmakers forget that the game of love is a marathon not a sprint.

With: Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kelli Garner, Jim Gaffigan, Ron Livingston, Natalie Morales, June Diane Raphael.

"Going The Distance" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association Of America for sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity.  The film's running time is one hour and 38 minutes.

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