Long Shot

LONG SHOT (12)

D: Jonathan Levine

Lionsgate/Summit/Good Universe/Point Grey/Denver + Delilah (Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, James Weaver, Beth Kono & Charlize Theron)

US 2019

125 mins

Comedy

W: Liz Hannah & Dan Sterling

DP: Yves Belanger

Ed: Melissa Bretherton & Evan Henke

Mus: Marco Beltrami & Miles Hankins

Charlize Theron (Charlotte Field), Seth Rogen (Fred Flarsky), O'Shea Jackson, Jr. (Lance), Andy Serkis (Parker Wembley), Bob Odenkirk (President Chambers)

A muddled mix of stoner comedy, political satire and romance with aspirations of being Pretty Woman with a gender flip, unfortunately it just doesn't work.

Seth Rogen once again plays the same character he's played for over decade, only difference is he's a stoner journalist who quits his job after his newspaper company is taken over by a media mogul with a stupid haircut and presidential aspirations (I wonder who provided the inspiration for that). He reunites with Charlotte Field, who was once his babysitter but now plies her trade as the current presidential administration's Secretary of State with an objective to be the first female US president.  She hires him to be her speech writer/spin doctor and the two develop an incredibly unlikely romantic relationship.

Practically every scene in this film hangs on the suspension of disbelief and at 125 minutes, it's just far too long to swallow bullshit. 

Charlize Theron is great & probably the film's only saving grace, but the double act and romantic angle on show his simply isn't credible, which may be the point of the title of the movie, but I'm gonna need more than a play on words to buy into this premise. There are a few scenes which play around with the current political rivalries, but I really don't like films about American politics. Even worse, I hate films that are merely propaganda, and when you get to the heart of it, that's all this is.

5/10