Caffeinated Clint
By Alicia Malone
Drew Barrymore cemented herself as a romantic comedy sweetheart when she co-starred with Adam Sandler in 1998’s ”The Wedding Singer”, and went on to star in ”50 First Dates”, ”Music and Lyrics” and ”He’s Just Not That Into You”.
In her latest rom com,”Going The Distance”, Drew proves she can still be charming while swearing like a sailor.
Drew plays Erin, who meets and falls for the charming Garrett (Justin Long) just six weeks before she is due to leave New York to finish her journalism studies in San Francisco. When she leaves, they decide to try a long distance relationship, but find the occasional phone calls and Skype dates just aren’t enough.
Although ”Going The Distance” claims to be different from all the other romantic comedies we’ve seen, apart from the raunchy jokes, it really isn’t. It follows the old tried and true format, so you know how it will all finish up. Not that it is a bad thing. Romantic comedies are successful precisely because we all love the fairytale of the happily ever after.
Influenced by the risqué comedy in films like ”Knocked Up” and ”Superbad”, ”Going The Distance” contains hilarious moments and one-liners you won’t believe are coming out of Drew Barrymore’s mouth. She is really the perfect female lead, and her character is sassy, smart and sexy. Drew and Justin Long have great chemistry on screen, obviously in part to their recent off-screen romance, but also thanks to their friendship, which spans for almost a decade. Justin makes a likeable “every man”, and interacts well with his on-screen best friends, played by Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis, who steal all the scenes they are in.
The wicked humour and constant swearing might offend some viewers, who, if they’ve seen the trailer, might be expecting a sweeter film. But for others, the edgy jokes add some spice to what could have otherwise been a forgettable film.
Blu-Ray Details and Extras
Blu-Ray and DVD combo.
The Blu-Ray presentation is doused with detail and skips the waxing and discoloration that I’ve noticed some of the studio’s releases baring in recent months. The 5.1 soundtrack can be heard to it’s full extent in any scene featuring music.
Quite a few featurettes, a Blu-ray exclusive audio commentary by the director, deleted scenes, trailers and a music video make up the guts of the extras sector.
