Long Shot misses the mark as an average romantic comedy with a presidential campaign plot stamped on top of it.

Score: 2.5/5

Out of all genres, I find comedy the hardest to review. What one finds funny is very subjective, and so one person may flat-out hate the movie while someone else might find it the funniest thing they have ever seen. With that said, I think I can say for certain that the romantic comedy Long Shot isn’t the best comedy.

Long Shot is about the relationship that grows between journalist Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) and Presidential Candidate Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron). The plot begins with the two meeting at a fancy party, where Charlotte recognizes Fred from their childhood, and she hires him to be a speech writer during her campaign. Fred convinces Charlotte that by getting to know her, he can write the best authentic speeches for her, and from there, the work relationship transitions to the romantic kind. So that’s the flavor of the same romantic comedy plot you have seen a million times. Is it cute? Yeah, it’s cute, but that’s the same thing you would say to seeing another puppy. It sure isn’t anything that special, though.

What makes movies like these works is all down to the actors and the humor. One of the things this movie has going for it is some good actors. Seth Rogen is the funny man you’d expect, and Charlize has some pretty amusing moments herself. The cast also has several other humorous, talented supporting actors who keep the plot moving. That said, the humor is… well, it feels very much Rogen raunchy. Which is interesting since he didn’t write this one. Personally, over-the-top sex humor or on-the-nose making fun of stereotypical people we see in the world just doesn’t do it for me. This movie has a lot of that. Hey, look, there are some overly sexist men saying super overly sexist things. Funny right? Or woah, let’s make a big joke over masturbation. That’s funny, too, right? For some, this will land a lot better. For me, it’s very easy shock-humor, and it wears thin very quickly.

It did have some moments that actually were pretty amusing, none that I’ll spoil here but the jokes aren’t just super raunchy or on the nose all the time. It also doesn’t overstay its welcome with a crazy runtime. That said, there was never a moment that made me laugh endlessly or stick in my brain too long after that movie ended. There wasn’t a joke that felt too special, and there wasn’t a beat that felt too memorable. It’s a romantic comedy through and through.

By the end of the movie, it wraps things up in a nice little bow and gives the audience that this is how a relationship could work in a perfect world setting. That’s what the genre is, though, so I won’t knock it for doing what it’s set out to do. No more would I knock a horror movie for trying to scare someone. Long Shot wasn’t a bad movie, but it wasn’t a great one either. So if you are a couple looking for a movie to see, this isn’t the worst one you could watch, but it isn’t going to wow you either.