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In a romcom, the "rom" depends on that elusive element of chemistry.
Actors can try to fake it, but they either have it or they don't. Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, an on-again/off-again couple in real life, have it to spare in "Going the Distance."
It helps to offset the sitcom situations involving spray tans, carnal canoodling, loud street discussions about private matters and dramatically drunken and vulgar exits, all contributing to the movie's R rating. In this, the Age of Apatow, boys will be boys (especially when gathered in groups), but girls will be girls, too.
- Starring: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long.
- Rating: R for sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity.
Ms. Barrymore is Erin, and it's not bad enough that she's a 31-year-old intern and grad student, but she's working at a New York newspaper where, as with most dailies, layoffs are more common than job openings.
Mr. Long is Garrett, a New Yorker sharing an apartment with a pal and employed by a record label, also not a thriving field. He loves indie bands, but his boss assigns him a group that could be "our Jonas brothers."
The thirtysomethings have a modern-day meet cute in a bar over a video game, although, in a role reversal, she's the one with the high score who resents him putting a quarter down to call the next game.
They quickly advance to beer, bar trivia, wings and more, although with Erin returning to San Francisco and grad school in six weeks, she's not looking to start anything serious, and neither is Garrett.
But they find themselves in a long-distance relationship fraught with frustration, unsolicited advice from relatives and friends, and hobbled by the high cost of airplane tickets and lack of jobs in both of their fields. Can they figuratively and literally go the distance?
Documentary maker Nanette Burstein, whose credits include "American Teen" and "The Kid Stays in the Picture," directs a script by first-timer Geoff LaTulippe, although she encouraged actors to improvise at times.
Garrett's relationship with his buddies, including eavesdropping roomie Charlie Day and colleague Jason Sudeikis, is pretty much standard, although "Going" makes hilarious hay out of the thin New York apartment walls. Other comic chitchat about bathroom doors, for example, is time-killing and juvenile.
"Going" taps into the economic zeitgeist, the technological tethers that cannot replace personal contact and benefits from its leads and a sharp supporting turn by Christina Applegate as Erin's tightly wound sister.
Although saddled with one of the worst release dates of the year, it's not the worst romcom of 2010. It's not the best, either, but it is blessedly free of talk and twists involving artificial insemination.
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