Going the Distance
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: September 3, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
13
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The film captures the harshness and the sweetness of our time. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Going the Distance may be a minor movie, but it's also the rare romantic comedy in which you can actually believe what you're seeing. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazinePam Grady
Likely to resonate with a generation of young people to whom "When Harry Met Sally's" orgasm scene seems downright quaint. Read full review
80
TimeMary Pols
The raunchy but charming Going the Distance is credible, intimate and more appealing than 90% of the romantic pairings in American movies these days. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
To date, no motion picture has adequately captured the soaring highs and devastating lows associated with a long distance relationship, but Going the Distance comes as close as any movie has. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
I liked the movie mainly for Barrymore. The way she handles the crucial, early "I love you" moment (he's saying it to her, and the camera shows us what she's thinking), you think: This is one canny actress. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Going The Distance could stand to color outside the lines a bit more, but it's perceptive about the problems of young people torn between pursuing love or their nascent career ambitions, and the witty script, by first-timer Geoff LaTulippe, is spiked with refreshing profanity. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Going the Distance earns its R rating, often by daring to say what goes frequently unsaid by women in raunchy comedies. It's not a very good movie. The entire second half is a sitcom. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
There's also some gallows humor about the record and newspaper industries, but overall this is a light, genial comedy about denial and self-defense. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
While it's both too crude and too commercial to be mistaken for journalism, the good news is that the headliners deliver. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
The movie avoids most of the romantic comedy cliches, and its leads are appealing. That's almost enough for me. But not quite. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It's filthy, funny and kind of sweet, if not quite up to the level of Judd Apatow's oeuvre in the burgeoning field of R-rated comedies with heart. You will laugh and blush in equal measure. Read full review
60
EmpireIan Freer
If it is at times a bit indie-by-numbers without the courage of all its convictions, this is a grittier, saltier than usual rom-com populated with laughs, smarts and a couple you can root for. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Romantic comedies nowadays tend to be either aggressively coarse or artificially sweet, and Going the Distance finds a workable middle ground. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Once around the block with these folks is more than enough. Read full review
50
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
Rather than "Greased Lightning," we get a holding pattern -- which is better than a crash-landing, but still ... Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicRandy Cordova
When Going the Distance works, it works well, and it feels genuine. But like a bad relationship, the movie will continually let you down. Read full review
50
Orlando SentinelRoger Moore
There's an unexpected wistfulness, a bittersweet undercurrent to Going the Distance that could not have been in the script. This romantic comedy co-starring Drew Barrymore and longtime beau Justin Long was finished just as the real life couple was splitting up. For good, this time. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
I don't mean that this movie is strikingly good or strikingly bad, in cosmic terms -- it's a solid but totally forgettable entertainment, redeemed somewhat by Barrymore's loud, horsey laugh and some agreeably racy comic situations. Read full review
50
SlateDana Stevens
There's just not quite enough to the movie: not enough jokes, not enough obstacles, not enough sex. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
As it is, this uneven movie is more a compilation of contemporary images and concerns peppered with derivative raucous scenarios, à la Judd Apatow movies, than an involving romantic comedy. Read full review
40
VarietyJustin Chang
This uneven effort saddles its likable leads, Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, with the kind of verbally exaggerated sexual humor that not only comes off as embarrassingly strained and calculated, but also compromises what the picture genuinely wants to be. Read full review
40
Village VoiceKarina Longworth
Distance is rated R because everyone swears excessively for no reason, the supporting cast of smart comedians (Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis) saddled with delivering painfully dumb, often unnecessarily dirty dialogue. Read full review
40
MovielineMichelle Orange
The disconcerting thing is how easy it is to fool viewers into being satisfied with not being involved, or even entertained - as long as they can RELATE. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid Fear
Just because you tart up a typical romantic comedy with trash talk doesn't make it edgy or real. Read full review
38
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A sappy-sweet romcom that seems to have been invaded by a screenwriter - one Geoff LaTulippe - with delusions that he's David Mamet. Read full review
30
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
This empty, immature romantic comedy ultimately feels as if it's filled with all the hot air that separates New York and San Francisco, yet still manages to be a suffocating bore. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Going the Distance has a tin ear and sullied eye: Nothing sounds or looks very good. Read full review
25
New York PostLou Lumenick
The stars' utter failure to create sparks is only one of the problems with this Labor Day weekend dump job. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Only read the bottom line of the accountants' review, after your generic masterpiece has gone the distance from theatrical release to video stores to the nethermost regions of the cable dial. If the accountants' judgment proves kind, head to the bank and feel free to enjoy precisely what you've denied so many others – a really good laugh. Read full review
20
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Going the Distance is, in a way, a remarkable film: It's hard to imagine any romantic comedy going wrong in so many different ways. Read full review
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