If you're a lover of romantic comedy, and you've been complaining about the dearth of rom-coms that have the sophistication, the wordplay and banter, and the substantive subject matter - let alone the laughs - that harken back to the genre's golden age, now is the time for you to do the equivalent of showing up at the ballot box for the next election: Go to your local theater and see Long Shot.
I suggest this not because Long Shot is the best romantic comedy ever (it's not), but because it's funny, it's smart, and it's precisely the kind of Romantic Comedy for Adults that's the hardest to get made these days; already in danger of being crushed by the usual box office heavy-hitters (Marvel, etc.) despite good reviews, this movie could use your support.
I can guess your reservations: Yet again with the Shlubby Guy Wins Gorgeous Babe shtick?! I had the same misgivings. But whether or not you can embrace Seth Rogen (who's quite good here, with a thoroughly convincing variation on his usual themes), Long Shot features Charlize Theron at her brilliant best, doing the sort of cannily downplayed comedic turn that recalls Old School screwball heroines like Jean Arthur and Barbara Stanwyck in their heyday.
Long Shot also offers - for those brave souls involved in the increasingly difficult job of writing a romantic comedy - an object lesson in how to create a credible hookup between two extremely unlikely mates-to-be. Minor contrivances aside, screenwriters Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah have done a bangup job of convincing us that the Secretary of State and speechwriting journalist played by Theron and Rogen not only could, but should end up together, and that's no small feat.
Additionally, the movie doesn't merely ask the usual supporting cast suspects to do their usual. Some relatively unfamiliar faces (including O'Shea Jackson Jr. and June Day Raphael) and one "why doesn't she get more work like this?" old favorite (Lisa Kudrow) enliven a show that's replete with great throwaway lines and purely visual reaction shots, under the capable direction of Jonathan Levine (of 50/50 and the underrated Warm Bodies). Yes, there are post-Apatow gross-out gags, but the amount of LOL Jokes For Thinking Folks is unusually high.
Finally, this is a romantic comedy that's about something, and it's unafraid to embrace a clear political stance, recalling the sort of comedies that Frank Capra used to make. I don't want to oversell the thing, but as my colleague Manohla Dargis puts it in her worth-the-read NY Times review, “Long Shot isn’t going to save the romantic comedy, but it’s an adrenaline shot of pure pleasure to the genre’s failing heart." What she said, say I: Go see this before it goes away, so that maybe more of these kinds of movies can follow its lead.
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