Review: “Going the Distance” is a Truly Surprising RomCom (It's Really Funny!)

Going the Distance, the Drew Barrymore/Justin Long romantic comedy opening today, has all the trappings of the modern romantic comedy:

• A gimmicky central concept (and an obvious title that clearly communicates that central concept)
• A group of wacky slacker friends.
• A number of extended raunchy gags (though, notably, this time around the girl is just as raunchy as the guys – probably thanks to Barrymore and director Nanette Burstein).

But there’s one thing that this movie has that most romantic comedies don’t: it happens to be really funny.

Truthfully, I didn’t think there were any Top Gun jokes (or roommate-listening-through-the-walls) jokes that could still make me laugh out loud, but apparently there are.

And it may not be “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” but I thought it was a pretty clever line when the girl appears to be angry they are being eavesdropped on while having sex, but then she says to the guy, “I was totally pretending to be mad because I didn’t want you to think I was slutty!”

Screenwriter Geoff LaTulippe clearly studied at the Judd Apatow School of Filmmaking, but with one important difference: in addition to outrageous, zeitgeist-y gags, he also gives the movie characters you care about and something of an actual plot.

Late twentysomethings Erin and Garrett meet cute and fall in love, even though they’re soon destined to be living on opposite coasts. But thanks to a crappy economy, neither can find a decent job in the city of the other. Can even a love this special survive a long-distance relationship?

Be forewarned: stars Justin Long and Drew Barrymore turn on the full movie-star-charm. They’re both delightful (and the impressively hard-bodied Long has a fair amount of not-quite-frontal nudity!).

In short, this movie, and Long's ass, are both winners.

One thing this movie doesn't have that most romantic comedies do is a gay best friend or co-worker. Of course, that’s become such a romcom cliché that I didn’t mind.

This isn’t necessarily a movie for the ages – its timely jokes will probably not age well, and it’s not nearly as clever as (500) Days of Summer (far and away the best romcom of recent years, IMHO), and it's not as well-acted or well-written as Up in the Air. It flags a bit in the middle, it's frequently-raunchy tone sometimes conflicts with moments of intended sweetness, and the only person who could possibly be surprised by inevitable “conflict” and the even more inevitable conclusion would be someone who’s never seen a movie before.

But let me repeat: it’s really funny.

And when it comes to romantic comedies, you could do much, much worse. In fact, you probably have done worse, if you were unlucky enough to have to sit through Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Sex in the City 2, Valentine’s Day, He’s Just Not That Into You, or any of the other terrible romcoms stinking up theaters so far this year.

Take a date to Going the Distance: you'll laugh, and you'll laugh some more, and best of all, you won’t hate yourself in the morning.