Going The Distance

Here’s a rom-com with all the standards intact. Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl again….or does he? In Going The Distance, the fly in the ointment of the relationship between Erin (Drew Barrymore) and Garrett (Justin Long) is that one lives in New York whilst the other shacks up in San Francisco. Can they make it work? Though this is by the numbers, there is fair chemistry between Barrymore and Long and the problems of the long distance relationship are handled in a realistic manner. The humour is the most interesting element of this film though as it’s a lot cruder than you would expect from the usual Barrymore fluff. In that respect, the film this mostly resembles is the recent She’s Out Of My League. Whether you think this works or not will probably make or break the film for you, as there’s not much funny stuff coming from either main lead and so laughs have to be garnered from elsewhere. As is usual in these types of films it’s the supporting characters that can steal the show and whilst there isn’t any comedy gold here they still provide enough chuckles to keep the film moving along. Overall, you get the impression that director Nanette Burstein wanted the film to fall in the middle of cheese and vulgarity, but the result is a film that feels confused at times about what it really wants to be. Having said that, it’s still a lot better than some of the more recent output in this particular genre.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Decent stuff from Barrymore and Long just about keep this above water level, but some may still find it too far adrift for rescue. Rating: 6/10.