Humor is the backbone of Going the Distance, but unfortunately the plot is lacking.
The plot features two young adults (Drew Barrymore and Justin Long) who fall in love in New York City — only to realize they live on opposite coasts. The movie is about their difficulties in sustaining a long-distance relationship.
Except for a couple supporting characters that make scenes hilarious, I felt like hitting my head against a wall repeatedly because of the predictability of the plot.
Without comedian Jim Gaffigan, Saturday Night Live actor Jason Sudeikis, or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Charlie Day, the movie would have no redeeming qualities.
Long neither adds nor detracts from the film. He showed how funny he can be in Accepted, but sadly none of that carried over to this movie.
Although it is a superficial concern, I was also annoyed by Barrymore’s appearance. Her hair always looked like she had just rolled out of bed. While that is justified in a couple scenes where she actually did just roll out of bed, the main character shouldn’t have bad hair the entire movie.
The film is technically a romantic comedy, but the romance was lackluster. Long and Barrymore did not have any chemistry, despite rumors that they are an actual couple.
If you go to the movies without expectations, you may enjoy Going the Distance because the comedic scenes were well-done. If you expect the romantic portion of the movie to have an interesting plot, you will be disappointed.