When Fred Flarsky reunites with his first crush, one of the most influential women in the world, Charlotte Field, he charms her. As she prepares to make a run for the Presidency, Charlotte hires Fred as her speechwriter and sparks fly.
Directed by Jonathan Levine and starring Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen, ‘Long Shot’ is a romantic comedy about a journalist who ends up working for the current U.S. Secretary of State, who happened to babysit him many years ago. Charlotte Field (Theron) is an ambitious politician with presidential hopes, which come to the fore when she learns that the current president (Bob Odenkirk) does not intend to run for a second term. To help boost her image and popularity, her team suggest that she hire a new speechwriter to bring out her voice, and after a chance reconnection with Fred Flarsky (Rogen) she brings him on board. Given the very premise of the film, I’m sure you can guess the direction that this story heads in.
Like many good romantic comedies, it lives or dies by the central performances and fortunately for ‘Long Shot’ it’s got a couple of good ones. Rogen’s made a career out of playing similar characters to Fred but it doesn’t make his performance here any less effective and he has strong chemistry with Theron, who is also good in her own right. The script is pretty funny, if a little predictable, and it makes the most of good supporting performances from the likes of O’Shea Jackson Jr. and in particular a barely recognizable Andy Serkis as a nasty media mogul. The film is over 2 hours long but it doesn’t drag and the balance of heart, humour and story is well judged to maintain my interest without sacrificing laughs.
‘Long Shot’ is an entertaining romantic comedy driven by the chemistry of its leads and I really enjoyed it.
Rating: 4/5
Directed By: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Andy Serkis, June Diane Raphael, Bob Odenkirk, Alexander Skarsgard, Ravi Patel, Randall Park, James Saito and Lisa Kudrow
'Somebody once wrote, "Hell is the impossibility of reason". That's what this place feels like. Hell.’ Platoon (1986) 