Movie: LONG SHOT
Cast: Charlize Theron, Bob Odenkirk, Seth Rogen,June Diane Raphael, Andy Serkis, Alexander Skarsgard, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Ravi Patel
Director: Jonathan Levine
Rating: * * and a half
“Long Shot” is the romcom version of the First Lady Claire Underwood-journalist Tom Yates’ ill-fated love affair in the American political drama House of Cards. Robin Wright’s tough as nalls Underwood is positively Machiavellian unlike Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) who decides to run for the Top Job in the US of A after the President ( Bob Odenkirk announces he will retire.
Field hires her ex neighbour-turned-journalist, Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) as her speechwriter on the campaign trail. Fred has just been fired for standing up for his principles and the new job is like an answer to a prayer. Your reviewer would have prayed, though Jewish Fred does not. A secular curiosity he is indeed, considering that Biblical Jews have an extraordinary consciousness of God. Fred is scruffy and clumsy, quite the opposite of our svelte politician.But he is also very brave like Adam Driver’s Flip Zimmerman character in Spike Lee’s scorching BlackKKlansman where Zimmerman infiltrates a neo-Nazi gang.
Fred does likewise with a bunch of white supremacists and actually lives instead of being rendered comatose or dead. Suspend disbelief and grind your teeth in envy as he gets the opportunity to travel all over the world with Field’s team. Cartagena! Vietnam! The Northern Lights!
Soon, romance and x-rated sex materialises but politics and preconceived notions of what couples ought to be like, complicates matters. In real life would foul-mouthed Fred and svelte sexual masochist Charlotte have got together? Luckily for her, Fred is not a sadist. The pairing could have been a recipe for disaster, luckily, all’s well that ends well especially after addressing such issues as conservation, equality, journalistic ethics, racism, drug abuse, West Asian conflicts and terrorism. Phew!
Oscar-winning Theron is spot on in her role. Rogen is perfectly cast as the tubby guy-who-gets-the-gorgeous girl and looks sweet in certain closeups but you do wish he had a better wardrobe.