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Long Shot Movie Review

Long Shot is a 2019 romantic comedy film directed by Jonathan Levine and starring Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron. It’s an unexpectedly strong genre flick.

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“I’m a racist, you’re a Republican,

I don’t know what the fuck’s going on“

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It follows a romantic relationship that develops between a male journalist and a female presidency candidate. Needless to say, this is a very modern, refreshing spin on the genre just like ‘Isn’t It Romantic’ was a couple of months ago. Yes, both of these films are rom-coms which I mostly dislike, but these two really appealed to me surprisingly so.

Yes, you have a much prettier woman than a man, but otherwise the relationship is reconstructive in its entirety. Not only is the woman more ambitious and successful, but she’s also the first to make a move and she’s the dominant one in every single way. That dynamic made it a very different, interesting watch.

But what sealed the deal to me in terms of this film’s quality is the chemistry between Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron. They have such palpable, electric even chemistry that the entire romance thus worked splendidly. Yes, we’ve got the usual running in the end and some of their quarrels as well were very clichéd, but otherwise I love these two actors and I loved their dynamic. Both performances are so good, especially Theron’s.

O’Shea Jackson Jr. is also very good in a smaller role and quite amusing too. The humor here is excellent when it is there. Yes, unfortunately only the first and some of the third act were comedic while the second act felt overly serious in its tone shift. That bothered me, but some scenes here truly were funny with the Republican exchange being hilarious and actually rather refreshing for a Hollywood movie.

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Long Shot is a touch too long as two hours was a bit too much for a pretty simple story. But it has layers actually. It explores the candidacy so accurately, the woman’s role in politics as well as America’s backward shaming of everything related to sex. That was great. Although it could have been even more sophisticated, it’s still pretty solid in what it set out and mostly successfully portrayed.

Long Shot has an overly serious second act and some of the plot points are clichéd, but overall this is a very refreshing, fun and surprisingly sophisticated romantic comedy that benefits from some interesting angles – both in politics and in power dynamics – while mostly resting on the shoulders of Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen who both delivered with an evidently strong chemistry between them.

My Rating – 4