Going the Distance is an innocuous piece of fluff that is harmless enough. A basic romantic comedy, it follows a pretty simple formula -- boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, girl has to move 3,000 miles away, boy and girl struggle to keep a long distance relationship going.
Drew Barrymore and Justin Long play Erin and Garrett, the aforementioned girl and boy. They have an easy rapport, and it isn’t painful to watch them. But the film, directed by Nanette Burstein from a script by Geoff LaTulippe, just doesn’t click. Going the Distance never gets out of the gate.
There are various reasons why the film doesn’t work. Here are some of mine:
THE COMEDY - When it sways from the main premise, the comedy often falls flat. One of the problems is that the supporting characters are mostly one-note jokes. Christina Applegate, as Erin’s sister Corinne, is a clean freak who goes nuts when confronted with anything unhygienic. This is funny the first time. It isn’t the second, or the third, or the fourth, or the... Jason Sudeikis plays Garrett’s work colleague whose primary goal is to sleep with an older woman. It’s more creepy than funny. Charlie Day as Garrett’s other friend Dan does weird things that are supposed to be funny. Some are, some aren’t.
BIT PARTS - Simply putting familiar funny people in your film doesn’t mean you’ll get laughs. The Daily Show’s Rob Riggle and Kristen Schaal show up for quick bits. But they really aren’t given anything to do. They strain so hard, the only good thing is that neither appearance lasts long. Ditto for Rob Livingston. He is totally wasted in a brief scene as Garrett's boss.
THE LANGUAGE - It what appears to be an attempt to keep things loose, the dialogue is peppered with four-letter words. I’m not opposed to such language. I’ve been known to use it on occasion myself. It just doesn’t serve any purpose here. The lines don’t sound any funnier. The characters don’t come off hipper or more real. After a while, it’s mostly distracting.
THE “R” RATING - The sex is tame. The most titillating thing in the film is a quick shot of Justin Long’s naked butt. Instead, the movie earns its “R” from its steady stream of obscenity and a quirky scene where Erin and Garrett bond over bong hits. That makes me wonder who the target audience is for this film. I’d be surprised if the slight storyline and one-dimensional characters will appeal to anyone over the age of sixteen. Going the Distance seems more suited to tween-girls, who hopefully won’t be as demanding of the material. This makes the totally unnecessary “R” another odd aspect of this movie.
THE CONFLICT - The film has none. You know the two characters love each other. They remind us of it in every scene. You don’t believe for a minute that this duo won’t stay together. The few roadblocks thrown in their way (career choices, jealously) are instantly dispelled. As any good comedy writer will tell you, predictability isn't funny.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Christina Applegate cleans for laughs.
