( EW.com ) -- `` Going the Distance '' is a light and tasty morsel of a romantic comedy in which two smart , funny , and basically sweet people try to conduct a cross-country relationship . The movie , which sounds like it was spun out of an advice column , is very high-concept , except that it has a gently authentic tone , a flavor rooted in its affection for the shrewd innocence of the 1980s . For the first 15 minutes or so , I actually wondered if it was set in the '80s . Erin ( Drew Barrymore ) , who 's 31 , is finishing up her internship at a bustling newspaper , The New York Sentinel , and would do anything to land a job there . ( I do n't know too many 31-year-olds these days who even read newspapers , let alone dream of working at one . ) Garrett ( Justin Long ) , an easy-come-easy-go womanizer , works for a medium-size New York record label , and what he does there sounds a lot like being an A & R guy -- a job that may be even more tied to a bygone era than newspaper reporter . The two meet at a quiet , homey bar that , miraculously , does n't have a blaring sports TV , and they proceed to bond over a round of the classic videogame Centipede . That night , back at Garrett 's apartment , they confess their mutual passion for `` Top Gun , '' and Garrett 's roommate ( Charlie Day ) , a scruffy loser who is listening to their every move , blasts the film 's immortal Wagnerian-sap power ballad , `` Take My Breath Away , '' as they approach their first kiss . It 's funny , in a hot-tub-time-machine sort of way . After two love montages set to the Cure 's `` Just Like Heaven '' and the Pretenders ' `` Do n't Get Me Wrong , '' I began to think : Between this feel-good '80s jukebox and the fact that no one in the film has yet sent a text message , which year is this ? As it turns out , `` Going the Distance '' is quite contemporary , but the wistful retro vibe is no accident . The director , Nanette Burstein , is a veteran of documentaries ( she made American Teen and codirected The Kid Stays in the Picture ) , and here , making a major gear shift to mainstream Hollywood comedy , she 's out to take us back to an earlier vibe -- to a time when pop music was optimistic , and so were movie romances . Erin and Garrett do n't just fall into glorified lust . They fall in love because they like each other 's company , and Barrymore and Long have just the right sort of chemistry ; they act out the rhythms of companionship . `` Going the Distance '' is mercifully free of the Styrofoam plot twists that drive most romantic comedies , but it substitutes a development that , by comparison , may seem borderline inconsequential . Erin is set to go to grad school at Stanford , and she and Garrett know they 're going to be together only for six weeks . Once she moves to the Bay Area , though , they realize they want to keep it going . And so they have to fly back and forth . And they 're frustrated . And horny . And jealous . ( Each has a workmate flirt buddy . ) Gee , what do you think they should do ? The script , by Geoff LaTulippe , is full of lines that pop . And Long , who 's always had a unique -- and , to me , not entirely appealing -- way of making floppy-haired boyishness reptilian , comes alive as a movie star for perhaps the first time . He plays Garrett as the kind of guy who uses his wit as an antenna for connectivity . Burstein , as a director , is drawn to the Apatow school of humane obscenity . `` Going the Distance '' is filled with raunch -- a lot of it , delightfully , delivered by Barrymore 's Erin ( she does a great , original bit about receiving oral sex ) . But none of it is shock humor . This is comedy that catches the casual dirtiness of how men and women really talk . The blue dialogue liberates Barrymore , who has never been this womanly and confident on screen . So where 's the dramatic conflict ? `` Going the Distance '' introduces real-world complicating factors that are meant to reflect the stagnant economy . That 's why Erin and Garrett ca n't solve their long-distance problem . This gives the movie a surface topicality , though it also keeps it low-key , episodic , benign , and quaintly everyday . Not that that 's such a bad thing . `` 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 . EW grade : B+ . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2010 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
` ` Going the Distance '' is quite contemporary , but the wistful musical style is no accident . Barrymore and Hepburn have the right voices ; they act out the rhythms of companionship . The film is free of the plot twists that plague most romantic comedies .