I have been an unapologetic fan of Seth Rogen for a long time now. Some people hate it for the same kinds of reasons people hate Adam Sandler, but I’ve always found him to be really funny. He has great delivery and screen presence, and he’s even been able to handle some harder acting when necessary, and so I think he’s one of the stronger comedic actors we currently have. Just like with other stars (such as Melissa McCarthy with Paul Feig), I find that his talents have been best utilized under certain directors. One such director for Seth Rogen is Judd Apatow, but a lesser-known one is Jonathan Levine. I think Levine’s most commercially successful film was probably Warm Bodies, but he’s worked with Seth Rogen before in movies like 50/50 and The Night Before, the latter of which was a solid Christmas, but the former of which is actually one of my favorite cancer movies ever. Rogen works well with Levine, so it’s nice to see them team up again in this political rom-com.

The movie actually has a fairly interesting premise for a rom-com, featuring a dynamic that’s rarely ever seen. Basically, Charlize Theron plays the Secretary of State, Charlotte Field, and Seth Rogen plays a journalist, Fred Flarsky. The two run into each other at an event, and it’s quickly realized that Charlotte was actually Fred’s babysitter when they were younger, and so the two have a connection with that. Charlotte is planning on running for president in the next election, and she needs someone to help write her speeches. It just so happens Fred is recently unemployed from his last journalism job, and so he agrees to work for her. However, as the two spend more time together, a romance eventually blooms between them, making for a very interesting dynamic between an elegant politician and a crass journalist.

While I found the premise strong enough for a rom-com to set itself against the crowd, great premises can always be ruined by bad executions, so truthfully the thing that helps Long Shot stand out are its leads. I’ve already talked about my appreciation for Seth Rogen’s work, but Charlize Theron absolutely deserves a nod too. She’s always proven herself to be a phenomenal actress, and she’s really great here as well. She commands the screen a lot, and so she’s always engaging when she speaks. The coupling of Rogen and Theron as co-stars seems as odd as the coupling between the characters they play (although I’m sure that’s kind of the point), and so it’s surprising how well they work together. The two play off of each other really well, and so they really end up carrying a lot of the movie together.

Long Shot just ends up feeling really fresh a lot of the time. Rom-coms are often really predictable, and while some of the ideas in Long Shot are still predictable (such as the obvious weird dynamic between the two characters), the way they’re delivered and play out caught me off guard at times. It was the kind of movie where I was genuinely unsure whether or not the two of them would end up together in the end, and so it was really interesting to see the movie play out. There are also some surprisingly powerful messages found in the movie, especially some unexpected conversations about tolerance and acceptance towards other people’s views later on in the film. If you’re a fan of the leads and are looking for a different kind of romantic comedy, give Long Shot a try. It’s nothing spectacular, but it’s a really solid movie, and a fun one to watch.

4/5