A Rom-Com for Grownups

Going the Distance
Dir: Nanette Burstein

Honest and hilarious.

Garrett (Justin Long) and Erin (Drew Barrymore) start dating just before she moves back clear across the country to finish up grad school. So, they decide to have a long distance relationship. There's much hilarity both before and after this point.

Here are some of the reasons Going the Distance is great:

• Real, sharp dialogue. The characters sound like actual people. They have conversations about love, sex and those burning questions on some of our minds (Why are there no baby pigeons in New York?) and interact in ways that ring true. 
• Terrific supporting cast. Charlie Day, in particular, delivers tons of laughs as Dan, Garrett's hookup DJing, open-door-crapping roommate. Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate and Jim Gaffigan also bring the funny.  
• Erin. She's a profane, scrappy, ballsy, 30something woman who's not afraid to get in people's faces and tells it like it is. It's not an act, it's not a defense mechanism that melts away when she finds true love, it's who she is. She's a very atypical rom-com protagonist and makes the movie refreshing. 
• Honesty. Long distance relationships suck. Sure, here, they lead to interesting scenarios and audience enjoyment, but Going the Distance also does a good job of highlighting the pain and frustration Erin and Garrett feel being apart.
• Brilliant homages to Tom Cruise and Top Gun.
• It's about regular Joes and Janes. Garrett and Erin aren't rich, don't drink expensive wine or go to super fancy restaurants. She's a poor grad student living with her sister and he's a mid-level music industry nobody, who hates his job. They can't see each other more often because flights are too expensive. That's a real conflict many of us know all too well, and it helps us identify with these characters.

Going the Distance isn't the most romantic, heart-melting of movies. Instead, it's a movie that remembers to put the "comedy" in "romantic comedy." The MO of most attempts in the genre is to have a handful of chuckle-worthy moments, a sweet story and a happily ever after. Seldom are they gut-busters. Which is what makes this such a winner.

Don't get me wrong, it is sweet and charming in its own way. But, again unlike most of its brethren, its purpose isn't to send you into a schmaltz coma and awaken you to a dubious happy ending. Going the Distance entertains throughout, so much so that it makes the conclusion almost irrelevant. Why? Because you've had a good time and that doesn't change based on whether Erin and Garrett ride off into the sunset together. Because you're an adult and you realize that sometimes things are complicated and it's OK to show that in movies.

It's really funny. Just go see it.