Going the Distance [Blu-ray] [2010] [US Import]

Is it just me, or is Hollywood currently churning out WAY too many films of this genre?
I seem to see Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Katherine Heigel, and here, Drew Barrymore in an endless romantic comedy cycle.

'Going the Distance' has a little more going for it, delivered mainly by the two leads and a funny (but quite profane in parts) script.

Erin (Drew Barrymore) is a 31 year old woman who is having trouble pacing her life, she is still in grad school and she has recently got a job as a summer intern in a newspaper in New York. While out with a friend at a bar she meets Garrett (Justin Long) over a game. The two then drink together and end up at his place and they have sex while (bizzarely) Garrett's roommate Dan DJed their hook up. The next morning Erin is anxious to leave but Garrett asks her to have breakfast with him and she agrees. She then tells him that she is only in New York for 6 weeks and is not looking for a relationship and he agrees with her stating that he had just got out of one and wants this to be casual.

Erin and Garrett start having a 'casual' fling but it starts to get deeper for them. They both continue with their fling, however when the six weeks are up they find it difficult to let go. After Garrett drives Erin to the airport they say goodbye, but just as Erin is about to leave Garrett runs after her and tells her that he is crazy about her and wants to have a long distance relationship with her. She agrees.

Over the next couple of months Erin and Garrett spend all their free time texting and calling one another trying to work out times when one of them can fly in, trying really hard to make things work, ergo the title.

I really do feel that virtually all of the rom-com jokes, scenarios and outcomes have all been done before. However, these films are a revenue stream for the industry and must get made. I always try to be objective and realise that yes, these films have an audience, which is why I am reasonably positive about it.

Good choice for a date movie with a little more spark than usual.

My Thoughts: Normally, Drew Barrymore sparkles in romantic comedies and I had incredibly high expectations of this (the trailer did make it look alot funnier than it actually is). While there are a few "laugh out loud" moments, I didn't feel any real "spark" or "chemistry" between the two characters, which is odd being that Drew Barrymore and Justin Long were romantically involved at the time (just as their characters are). The storyline is so-so, when the comedy does come it feels forced or pointless, and the film just feels drawn out and sub-par in general leaving very little left to be interested in. I forced myself to watch this until the end but I really didn't get a feel or care about what happened to either character.

The Plot: Garrett & Erin meet by chance in a bar (fighting over an arcade machine) and have a brief relationship on the understanding that they will depart when Erin finishes her New York internship at a newspaper and moves back to San Francisco. As time quickly moves on, the two begin to catch feelings for each other leaving them both in awkward situations. Garrett is desperate for promotion in his New York based music-industry job while Erin has just finished spending the last few years of her life pulling herself back on track after previously having given up her dreams for a relationship.

Erin, determined that she will not give up her dreams a second-time around for love, moves back to San Francisco under the apprehension that there may be a New York job opening for her soon and turns to waitressing and living with her older sister in the meantime until she can find a way to balance both love and career. Garrett on the other hand is suffering at the hands of his first real relationship made only much harder by having to travel the distance to b with a girl he has fallen head over heels for.

Going the Distance is the story of an aspiring journalist Erin (Drew Barrymore) on internship with The Sentinel newspaper who meets Garrett (Justin Long - He's Just Not That Into You) over a game of centipede in a bar. After spending the night together, Erin reveals that she is only in New York for another 6 weeks and is not looking for anything serious. The perpetual drifter, Garrett agrees that this is just a casual thing, he isn't looking for anything serious either but would like to continue seeing her. Cue cheesy-montage of the 6-week period and lo & behold, the two are crazy about each other and faced with being imminently seperated. They decide to try the long-distance thing (as the title of the film may suggest) and the rest of the film follows the trials and tribulations that a 'LDR' brings with it.

Going the Distance (GTD) is a more honest film than a lot of it's genre usually are; sometimes I was caught off-guard, having being conditioned to expect the saccharine hollywood rom-com lines in response to a given situation but GTD often surprises with it's realism, diverging from the norm and being counterintuitive keeping the story and humour fresh.

And there's humour aplenty, at quite a few points I laughed out loud, empathising with the protagonists or just finding the joke plain funny - when Garrett meets Erin's sister for the first time is a highlight. With that being said, some scenes are really poorly written, the dialogue just seems a bit wooden and comes across very stilted, but both of the main players are more than capable of drawing you in with their range. When you throw in Garrett's best friends, Dan & Box (Charlie Day - Reno 911! & Jason Sudeikis - The Bounty Hunter) really adding to the comedy this turns out to be a solid film.

The soundtrack is respectable as well, with some indie classics in there amongst newer stuff, Boxer Rebellion pop up more than once and there's an Eels track also. So well filmed, well-acted, good score just a bit lacking in the story department as you can see the overall story-arc coming a mile off even if some of the minor scenes are unpredictable.

Extra Content: The DVD just has the usual suite of deleted scenes, but the Blu-Ray has a couple of featurettes; interviewing the cast about the dos and don'ts of a long distance relationship and advice on how to have the perfect date. Nothing overly special but adds to the experience.

All in all, a good film that will make you laugh more than a couple of times, but ultimately feels a bit contrived and predictable. Definitely one of the better rom-coms and more than worth a watch!!