Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Erin and Garrett are very much in love. When Erin moves to San Francisco to finish her journalism degree and Garrett stays behind in New York to work in the music industry, they gamely keep the romance alive with webcams and frequent-flyer miles. But just when it seems the lovers will soon be reunited, they each score a big break that could separate them for good.
Going the Distance is a fairly standard romantic comedy built around the long-distance relationship premise. The plot hits predictable beats — couple falls in love, geography intervenes, misunderstandings arise, resolution comes — without much subversion or surprise. The acting is a genuine bright spot: Drew Barrymore and Justin Long have real chemistry, and the supporting cast (Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate) adds genuine laughs that elevate the material. Cinematography is functional and unremarkable, capturing New York and San Francisco without doing anything distinctive with either city. Novelty is low — while the film sprinkles in R-rated humor (phone sex, crude jokes) to differentiate itself from typical rom-coms, the underlying structure and resolution are thoroughly formulaic. The ending is reasonably satisfying, providing the emotional payoff audiences expect without feeling entirely unearned, which keeps it slightly above average.