Long Shot is the new rom-com from director, Jonathan Levine, and writers, Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah. It’s about an unlikely relationship that forms between the U.S. Secretary of State, Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), and recently unemployed journalist, Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen). She’s dignified, smart, and planning a campaign for the next presidential election. He’s awkward, vulgar, and has a tendency to get himself into trouble, despite always trying to do the right thing. So, yeah, a rom-com, you know the drill with these.
Thankfully, the film is made by a lot of really talented people, who know how to lean on their strengths. The story isn’t really going to blow anyone’s mind, and it’s not going to provoke any kind of meaningful thought in a way that hasn’t been done already. It just comes with the genre, which – by its very nature – has to stick to a certain formula to even work properly. So, what this movie does is make it as funny and thoughtful as possible, and utilize the likability of its cast to great effect.
Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen are an absolute joy to watch together. Their chemistry is excellent, and their back-and-forth never ceased to put a smile on my face. Theron has only done a handful of comedies, but she’s very much a skilled comedic performer, and even though she is presented as the more rational, straight laced character, constantly having to deal with Fred’s antics, she gets plenty of moments to be funny. Seth Rogen is always reliable, and I like how he is able to play into his usual character type while also bringing in a certain boyish charm that makes it understandable why someone like Charlotte would build a connection with him.
Given the fact that it’s a film largely about a female politician planning on running for President, it can’t help but bring a timely sense of urgency to the proceedings. It does come across a bit sloppy at times. Some moments felt like the sort of cringey, performative wokeness that bothers me in a lot of mainstream movies, but there are other moments, mostly revolving around how a female leader has to navigate a male dominated field, which came across more honest and raw and interesting. Charlotte is always in this uphill battle, trying to control and compromise so many aspects of her life, just to get those public poll numbers up.
The comedy is fairly consistent. Like with Booksmart, it’s a film that seems to know that it’s best to keep the writing as tight as possible, and not rely too much on endless improvisation. There’s a number of killer lines and humorous situations that our leads find themselves in, and it’s delivered like a well oiled machine. Plus, the supporting cast, which includes the likes of June Diane Raphael, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ravi Patel, Bob Odenkirk, Randall Park, Alexander Skarsgård (a major scene stealer as the Canadian Prime Minister), and a nearly unrecognizable Andy Serkis, who is working under lots of makeup as a sleazy media mogul.
It’s a very enjoyable movie, but it is rather thin. There’s not a whole lot to it. Once you get the basic premise, you get a basic idea of where everything is going and how it will go there. And while some of the commentary on being a woman in a position of leadership is thoughtful and at times affecting in Theron’s delivery, it just isn’t enough to really add much to the whole experience. I have a hard time imagining that I’ll remember much of this after a couple weeks.
Long Shot isn’t necessarily a great movie, which makes it a bit of a disappointment on some level, but as I was watching it, in the moment, I did have a really good time. I enjoyed Rogen and Theron’s chemistry, and I thought their characters made for an adorable couple. The jokes hit far more than it misses, and there’s even a few knockout gags in there. Levine has already long proven himself as a capable filmmaker, and he brings an intimacy and warmth to the look and feel of the movie, which was definitely appreciated. If you’re not a fan of romantic comedies, this probably won’t do much for you, but if you are a fan of the genre, this might be a nice treat that adds some fun that is plenty welcome given the bleakness of the current political landscape.