'Long Shot' Breathes Hilarious New Life Into The Rom-Com Genre
Starring Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen, June Diane Raphael, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bob Odenkirk, Andy Serkis, Randall Park, Alexander Skarsgård
Rated R
Comedy, Romance
Run time: 2 hrs, 5 min
Directed by Jonathan Levine
In theaters May 3, 2019
Here’s something I never thought I’d say: I really liked the new Seth Rogen romantic comedy. Here’s another: My boyfriend did too. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this renaissance of romantic comedies is such a joy, bringing lighter fare to balance out fight-filled action flicks and heavy award contenders. I wasn’t always a fan of Rogen’s other comedies (gross-out humor and weed jokes aren’t always my thing), but I have to say, with this vehicle, he seems to be more hilarious than I’ve seen him before. Combine that with letting Charlize Theron indulge in some comedy, and this is a romantic comedy that has made me laugh more than most I’ve seen combined.
Theron is Charlotte Field, the secretary of state who is trying to lay some groundwork in order to try her hand at running for president. At an event, she runs into someone she grew up next to (and used to babysit), Fred Flarsky (Rogen). She learns that he’s made a career for himself as a writer and brings him on her team to help punch up her speeches, hopefully raising poll numbers on whether or not she’s funny and personable enough to become the leader of the country. However, it turns out what she needed around her was just someone who knew her way back when, and someone who is willing to spend the time to get to know her.
The combination of Theron and Rogen is a winning one, especially with supports from June Diane Raphael (Field’s aid and basically right-hand man) and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Fred’s best friend). Their humors balance off each other, and while it isn’t the pairing you’d expect, that works with the entire premise of the film. Between a scene at what looks to be a random rave in another country and a near-death experience the couple seems to go to, you can see how the two characters could play off each other in an actually genuine way.
This movie manages to make a working combination between the two genres of what is perceived bro comedy and the traditional, more feminine romantic comedy. It doesn’t feel like either one has to sacrifice their integrity in order to create a whole, well-rounded, hilarious movie. It had the emotion required to provide the relationship with enough basis to be believable and the humor to make it legitimately laugh-out-loud funny. If this is any indication to the future of the romantic comedy, sign me up.