‘Going the Distance’ goes too far

The story begins as Erin (Drew Barrymore) is interning for a New York newspaper, and Garret (Justin Long) is still failing to commit himself to a relationship. They meet in a bar and find an unexpected attraction.

As the relationship continues, Garret and Erin find something within each other they have not found in any of their previous relationships. Erin finishes her internship at the newspaper and must go back to San Francisco after she is denied a full-time position.

They begin a long distance relationship even though Erin’s sister, Corrine, and Garret’s buddies are against such a commitment. They do (to my horror) have phone sex to make the long distance a smaller gap, along with frequent sexting.

With this true love, they find it worth taking a chance and dealing with the hardship of maintaining love on opposite sides of the country.

There was a good story line to this movie, but the phone sex and highly graphic scenes stayed true to the ‘R’ rating. I felt it was too much and uncomfortable for everyone in the theater. It was quite vulgar.

The romantic comedy genre was lost in the sex scenes. It seemed like the producers tried to add more vulgarity to make it funnier, but it didn’t work in their favor.

In addition, the camera work was awful. It may have been the lighting or camera angle, but it gave Barrymore the appearance of having a mustache. I talked to my friends next to me to make sure it was not my imagination, but they agreed. It bothered me the whole time.

The director put too much focus on their physical attraction. It made the whole relationship have no substance on screen. This made me wonder if there was a point to the rest of it.

They are tempted to cheat on each other with co-workers. It was creepy and seemed like a waste of frames. Nothing happened; they just had to put it in there. If it could have been done differently, then it might have made sense.

The other scene that seemed pointless was when Erin and Garret barge in on Corrine, dry humping her husband on the dinner table. Gross!

The end of the story was sweet, but I thought it could have gone further. I liked that it had a happy ending, but the way it was done came out weak.

Overall, this movie was vulgar, awkward and a poor representation of a romantic comedy.

If you are going to see it, go when it’s cheaper or rent it. It’s not worth the $10.

D+

pbarra@unews.com