Film: Long Shot

GENRE: Rom-Com

RATING: R for sexual content, language and drug use
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 5 minute

STARRING: Charlize Theron (Tully, Young Adult, Atomic Blonde)

Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), June Diane Raphael (Disaster Artist)

DIRECTOR: Jonathan Levine (50/50, Snatched, Warm Bodies)

WRITERS: Dan Sterling (The Interview) & Liz Hannah (The Post)

PLOT: An unlikely romance between a female secretary of state running for president and a shlubby journalist who she used to babysit.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: My expectations were not that high.  

STORY STUFF: The premise worked surprisingly well for me as I got on board pretty quickly. There are a lot of laughs throughout and some very touching moments. With the gong show of politics these days, this situation is surprisingly believable. The two hours go by pretty fast.

ACTING STUFF: Rogen is his funny but charming self. I’m glad he wasn’t made into an idiot but had strong beliefs and played up the nervousness. Theron shocked me with how relaxed she seemed in this genre. She played both extremes very well. O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton) also does a great job as Rogen’s loyal friend. Unfortunately, some of the supporting cast needed grounding. Andy Serkis (LOTR) goes too cartoonish as a big bad media tycoon. The two administrative assistants are also not anything to write home about.

ARTISTIC STUFF: I love the 90’s nostalgia thrown into this film. Boyz II Men and Roxette feature heavily and I love every minute of it. During a climactic running to meet each other scene, they should have used another 90’s song instead of jumping further back to 1963’s “Then He Kissed Me”. Also, while it was definitely intentional and funny, Rogen’s wardrobe was hideous and made my eyes hurt.   

VERDICT: Four stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You enjoy the Seth Rogen’s less raunchy stuff and rom-coms.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: John Wick 3; Aladdin