This movie takes a whole new direction in the romantic comedy genre that we are all so familiar with. It stars Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, who meet at a bar while Erin (Barrymore) is on her summer internship as a reporter in New York City. Garrett (Long) has just been dumped by his girlfriend and is looking for someone to hook up with. After a few drinks and meeting Garrett’s friends Dan (Charlie Day) and Box (Jason Sudeikis), Erin decides to go back to Garrett’s apartment. One thing leads to another and the next morning Erin is attempting to silently duck out of Garret’ts room but of course he catches her in the act. Over a hardy breakfast together, Garrett and Erin decide that what happened was just a one night stand and nothing more…or was it?
Successful dates between Garrett and Erin lead to a solid foundation and a strong physical relationship. Unfortunately Erin’s internship has come to an end, and she has to head back to San Francisco where she lives with her sister Corrine (Christina Applegate) and her husband Phil (Jim Gaffigan). The two lovebirds decide to have a long distance relationship. You find out soon enough that it isn’t as easy as it sounds; the constant text messaging and late night phone calls just aren’t enough to sustain a serious relationship. Erin attempts to get an official job at the newspaper she worked as an intern for, but that of course doesn’t work out. Eventually, Garrett visits Erin in San Francisco and gets a bad first impression with Corrine and Phil. Corrine is a mothering sister to Erin who doesn’t want her making the same mistakes as in the past and ruining her life. Complications arise when Erin is offered a permanent job in San Francisco and she has to decide whether she should move to New York to live happily ever after with Garrett, or live successfully with a steady job that’s hard to come by.
For a romantic comedy, Going the Distance rises above the genre's normal faults and manages to be entertaining for the guys as well. It's down to earth and doesn’t try to be the average romance film. Scenes with Charlie Day and Jason Sedueikis lightened the mood and added some quality laughs. You can’t help but laugh at the stupidity of Charlie Day’s character Dan who slightly resembles his character Charlie from the popular TV show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Jim Gaffigan does a solid job at being the lazy husband who has trouble satisfying his wife. Even though there aren’t too many scenes with Gaffigan, he is still capable of milking out a couple of laughs. Drew Barrymore and Justin Long are easy to like on screen and really show what a couple that is madly in love looks like. The movie itself is quite predictable unfortunately (but what romantic comedy isn’t?). But it does a better job of entertaining the viewer than most other of its kind. This is a movie that you could watch on a date or see with someone special and leave actually liking it. Although, after its over, you probably won’t find yourself begging to watch it again.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Blu-ray combo pack includes the Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy of the movie. Some features exclusively found on the Blu-ray disc include “How to Have a Perfect Date” which has the cast answering questions on, go figure, how to have the perfect date. If you did not get enough of Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, or even Jim Gaffigan you can find multiple outtakes and deleted scenes featuring them. The movie includes some good music, which you can access in the bonus features.
"Going the Distance" is on sale November 30, 2010 and is rated R. Comedy, Romance. Directed by Nanette Burstein. Written by Geoff LaTulippe . Starring Charlie Day, Drew Barrymore, Jim Gaffigan, Justin Long.
