Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron share the screen in a rom-com about an unlikely romantic pairing blossoming against all odds.
Lionsgate
At this stage in Seth Rogen’s career, you’re either well and truly in for the brand of comedy that his production company Point Grey Pictures push out, or you simply just don’t click with the blend of stoner comedy/gross-out humour that he has often been behind. Rogen’s back catalogue has certainly been varied, ranging from frat-boy comedies with a twist (Bad Neighbours) to apocalyptic hi-jinks (This Is The End) and animated food orgies (Sausage Party), Rogen’s brand of comedy certainly may seem juvenile, but there is always a great level of wit and heart of Rogen’s joints that make them, at least for me, some of the stronger modern studio comedy offerings that Hollywood has today.
With Long Shot, the Rogen comedy brand is very much in full effect, but there is something a bit more sincere at play in a story which delivers all the kinds of gags you’d expect at this point, but also very much holds to the notion that these movies never forget to have their heart in the right place.
Rogen plays passionate, hot headed journalist Fred Flarsky. Fred is in dire need of a job after his independent publication gets bought out by larger news corporation. That opportunity arrives in the unlikely form of the stunning and formidable Secretary of State, Charlotte Field (Theron). Charlotte also so happens to be Fred’s former childhood babysitter. When she hires Fred to become a speechwriter for her newly announced Presidential campaign, the two begin to develop a relationship that both of them never would never have predicted.
The premise behind Long Shot is one that may put off a number of people. On the surface, it is simply another male wish-fulfilment kind of comedy in which a guy like Seth Rogen manages to get the beautiful and seemingly unattainable woman of his dreams. Of course, the film is savvy enough to poke fun at the fact that Rogen’s Flasky is very much shooting way out of his league, but that lingering sense that of wish fulfilment is still very much there.
Thankfully for the sake of the film, the relationship that does develop between Flarsky and Charlotte feels very genuine and sweet, allowing for those linger thoughts to stay very much in the back of your mind. This is in large part thanks to the insanely easy going chemistry that Rogen and Theron strike together. Their pattern between each other seems effortless. Their comedic stylings match up incredibly well, but surprisingly it is the burgeoning romance that ultimately charms rather than the gags being generated from it.
The film puts much more sincere energy into the central relationship than you may expect, meaning that the film itself ends up operating more like the 90’s rom-coms it often references than a straight up Rogen-branded comedy. Sure, there are still weed, cum and dick jokes a plenty, but it is ultimately a film more concerned about the relationships amongst its characters than it is setting up the next comedy set-piece.
Related: Check out a brand new clip from upcoming comedy Long Shot
Where Long Shot is more successful at operating as a rom-com, it also lands a good few beats around its themes of work politics and politics politics. It will surely come as no surprise to hear that the likes of Trump and Fox News come under fire through a depiction of a dim-witted celebrity President (played to rib-tickling effect by Bob Odenkirk) and a greedy business mogul (Andy Serkis, once again unrecognisable but this time via prosthetics not CG wizardry). Its shots at government, and namely its relationship with accountability give this a political edge that may sometimes give way to cheap (and occasionally) questionable gags, but it also demonstrates that Long Shot as something to offer about America’s fractured state than you would initially expect.
After his last film, Snatched, it’s great to see Jonathan Levine back on form with a comedy that proves to be exceedingly charming as well as gut-bustingly funny. Thanks to the winning pairing of Rogen and Theron, this is a studio comedy that surprises with its level of sincerity, well-balanced with all the trademark humour that you have come to expect from a Point Grey joint.
Long Shot is released in cinemas from Friday 3rd May.
