REVIEW: LONG SHOT (2019)

“Calm the smurf down. Next time, bring a fucking suit.”

Long Shot stars Charlize Theron and Seth Rogan and tells the story of Fred Flarsky, a journalist, who after quitting his job at a newspaper, runs into fellow childhood friend and current Secretary of Defense, Charlotte Field. As Charlotte begins her path to the White House, she enlists the help of Frank to write witty and personal speeches for her. In their workings, the two begin to fall for each other, making for a rather unconventional coupling. For me, Rogan has never been the epitome of comedy, or even close. I have found his humor to be, well, not very humorous. So in short, I wasn’t aching to see this movie. But after watching Long Shot, I couldn’t help but find this film incredibly funny.

I surprised myself at how many times I laughed out loud during Long Shot. Together, Rogan and the lovely Theron, make this movie seriously funny. Their onscreen chemistry is what really makes this film great. Theron, who is most known for her dramatic talents, never once seemed out of her element. And to be honest, she plays a rather convincing political figure. Rogan on the other hand, is, and isn’t, your same Rogan type character. How so? Rogan’s performance of Frank, makes it hard not to fall in love with his character. Not to mention, Frank is incredibly endearing and easy to root for. But as he charms Charlotte, he also charms the audience, which is hard to do. But it’s the character of Maggie, played by June Diane Raphael, that was the biggest surprise for me. Hidden in the talent of Theron and Rogan, Raphael comes out of nowhere with some of the funniest lines of the film. I haven’t been exposed to much of her works in the past, but I can honestly say, she’s now on my radar.

The few missteps in the film are few and far between, but they were there nonetheless. The beginning of the film took too much time forcing humor into situations that could have been cut. But once the main story comes into play, the film’s humor picks up, showcasing the wonderful interactions between Theron and Rogan’s characters. In addition to the slow pace at the beginning, the story, and I may be a little nitpicky, seemed slapped together. Maybe there should have been a little more research into the interworking of political policies. Not to be so heavy handed in that department, but during the scenes where Charlotte creates an environmental bill, it just wasn’t as compelling as the film made it out to be. But as I said before, this may just be a little nitpicky, because overall, Long Shot is so much fun to watch.

I can’t stress enough the lack of enthusiasm I had before watching Long Shot. What can I say, I’m a hard person to make laugh. But Long Shot is so outrageously funny that my mind was changed almost immediately. I don’t say this often, but Long Shot is a must see movie that will have you busting at the seams from laughing.

Long Shot

Directed by: Jonathan Levine

Starring: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogan, Alexander Skarsgård, June Diane Raphael, and O’Shea Jackson Jr.

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