Long Shot

A beard full of ejaculate. A terrorist attack. Loads of drugs.The world's most annoying laugh. A sleazy and mean turn from the man who made motion capture his own. Even more drugs. Not the ingredients you'd expect to see in a romantic comedy are they? 

Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) is the U.S. secretary of state and she's just caught a tantalising glimpse of the next stage of her career when the current president decides not to run for a second term. Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) is a NYC journalist with a conscience who's head is fried by the fact that his left leaning newspaper has been bought by the worst man on earth. One night they bump into each other.

This was very entertaining. It's the kind of story where you can see the ending coming from a mile away but two lovely performances from the leads and the blistering chemistry they create between them helps paper over the cracks. Rogen has thankfully tamed down his usual profane manchild schtick and Theron, an actress who can sometimes come across a bit icy, gives her character a lovely warmth. The two fit together perfectly despite her being, according to everyone around them, seriously out of his league. Romance aside it's a timely look at the different ways men and women are expected to behave when they live life in public. What's good for the gander definitely ain't good for the goose and the pain clear on Charlotte's face shows that sadly she's come to terms with society and it's fucked up ideals. It's nice to see it touched on in a non preachy and unforced manner too. 

Charlotte and Fred make each other happy, she can open up around him, he feels important when he's near her and they make each other laugh. The quiet little moments when they fall for each other feel real and sell the story. The political intrigue and important people who only live to serve themselves give the story a spine but it's the human touch that makes this worth a watch. A quiet dance to a Roxette song. A tearful reaction to one of nature's most wonderous events. One buddy (a winning turn from O'Shea Jackson Jr) looking after another buddy after a bad day. Relatable moments that show us the powerful folk are really just that, folk. 

It's stretching itself at 2 hrs though. It's a rare romantic comedy that needs to be that long. A drug induced evening is total padding and only exists to give the film an edginess it doesn't need. We get it Seth Rogen, you like drugs, you've been so subtle about it before. Bob Odenkirk's turn as a self obsessed President adds nothing to proceedings either. He's so good in Better Call Saul but you could snip him frame by frame out of this and very little would change. He's a funny fella but this role isn't going to be the one to break him into film especially when he's playing second fiddle to a leading pair who are on fire.

In cinemas at the moment. Well worth a watch.