I'm as surprised as anybody. Surprised not at how enjoyable Going the Distance is, but at just how fresh and relatable it turns out be. It helps to have everybody's favorite sweetheart, Drew Barrymore starring as Erin. Justin Long shows some real leading man potential as Garrett. Both are in their early 30s, and struggling to break into two slowly dying professions: the newspaper biz and the record industry. They'd have better luck buying a goose and praying it lays a golden egg, but that doesn't stop them from pushing for their dreams, and it's that determination that becomes an unintended obstacle.
The two meet ion the same day Garrett is unceremoniously dumped, hooking up after a wild night of New York bar hopping and silly introductory banter. She's the sortof girl every guy(at least in movies) would fall in love with: she's a bit flighty, but she can belch in public, loves movies and can fit in with the guys. Oh, and she's hot. He's stuck in a repeating cycle of break-ups and denials of any responsibility. After their hook up, the two should go their separate ways, but mutual attraction keeps them together. There's just one big problem: Erin's only in town for six more weeks before flying home to California to continue her studies at Stanford. The weeks fly by, and at the end nobody wants to say good-bye.
After what can be considered a standard romantic comedy opening, things take a turn for the real when Erin and Garrett decided to give the long distance thing a try. At first, it all goes off without a hitch. Conversations are brisk and it's like they were never apart. It always starts that way. When Garrett first flies out to see Erin at her sister's(played by Christina Applegate) home, their hormones rage out of control and they hook up on the dining room. But it doesn't last. The phone calls become fewer; the high price of flying takes it's toll; and fears of infidelity begin to creep in.
You can see it coming, and one of the reasons why the film works so well is that it doesn't shy away from the crappy stuff. It confronts them head on. The insightful script by Geoff Latulippe, was on the 2009 Black List, the best un-produced screenplays in Hollywood. It hits the right note of happiness with a tinge of uneasiness. Some of the scenes where Garrett and Erin begin to sense their relationship coming apart bit by bit are tough to take, and feel ripped from someone's own personal experience. In almost any film about couples, an effort is made to provide a bad guy. Somebody does something awful, or the love diminishes in a way that makes the characters unlikable. That never happens here. Both characters love eachother the same at the end as they do at the beginning, but is that always enough?
A superb cast helps keep the tone light even as the going gets tough. Without the occasional sophmoric crack by Garrett's two best buddies, Box(Jason Sudeikis) and Dan(Charlie Day), this could be a hard film for some to endure because the emotions are so raw. Applegate is also good as Erin's neurotic, obsessive compulsive sister. Whether or not Barrymore and Long, a real life couple, channeled any of their own issues into their characters isn't clear, but they come off as a natural fit.
That's not to say there aren't a few miscues. Director Nanette Burstein, a mostly documentary filmmaker who produced American Teen and The Kid Stays in the Picture a few years ago, makes some awkward style shifts along the way. At one point she literally switches cameras during a streetside dinner date, giving the grainy, realistic feel of some of her past works. The problem I have isn't that she did it. I actually liked it a lot. I wish she had done it more often. The script is written in such a way that a biographical take might've worked like a charm. Lastly, Going the Distance falls victim to the pitfalls of American cinema by tacking on ten extra minutes when it's not needed. The story reaches a perfect point to wrap up, with a conclusion that might've been more ambiguous than some would've preferred. Sometimes I want to imagine what happens next rather than having it spelled out for me all of the time.
Some will compare the raw honesty of Going the Distance to 2006's The Break-Up
. There are some thematic similarities to be sure. The Break-Up was essentially about two people who never learned enough about the other to know how to fix what was broken. Going the Distance is an intelligently made film about two people who've found love and are willing to go to any lengths to make sure it lasts forever. How can you not want to see a movie about that?
