Movie Review: "Long Shot"

"Long Shot": B-.  It's quite possible that the pairing of Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron makes for the unlikeliest of hookups in any romantic comedy produced in this century.  It is not uncommon for rom-coms to pair a guy and a girl who, at first blush, would appear to have little in common, but Long Shot takes us to a whole new level -- downward.  Rogen plays Fred Flarsky, a former journalist for a Brooklyn tabloid who is now unemployed by his own choosing.  He is gruff, coarse, slovenly and badly in need of a wardrobe makeover.  Theron is Charlotte Field, the U.S. Secretary Of State.  You read that correctly: Secretary. Of. State.

Casting the glamorous Theron as the highest ranking cabinet member, fourth in line to the presidency, is an undeniable oddity.  Quick research by my crack three-person investigative team reveals that the average age when assuming office of the last ten Secretaries Of State (from James Baker through Mike Pompeo) was 60.7 years.  Theron is 43 and could easily pass for 33.  Secretary Field is elegant, refined, charming and (at the risk of repeating myself) beautiful.  She is also smart, confident and unafraid to conduct business with her counterparts, all of whom are male, on foreign soil.

Field's plan is to run for president.  The current chief executive, President Chambers (Bob Odenkirk), is a real dodo with no intention of running for reelection.  In an obvious nod to today's real life occupier of the Oval Office, script writers Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah have President Chambers as a former television celebrity.  He will not be a hard act to follow.  Field relies heavily on her chief of staff, Maggie Millikin (June Diane Raphael), for advise, friendship and good old common sense which, in this film, is in short supply.  What little of it there is usually comes from Maggie.

So, just what is the original connection between the flakey Flarsky and the ambitious Field?  Answer: She was his neighborhood babysitter back in the day.  In keeping with the theme of this being a non-traditional rom-com, they do not "meet cute."  Their next encounter is years later, present day, when they recognize each other at a charity fund raiser.  She is fascinated by his quirkiness, and when she learns he is a journalist "in between opportunities," she digs up some of his old articles and decides his style might be just what her soon-to-be presidential campaign needs in terms of a speech writer.  This, notwithstanding the fact that Capitol Hill has an abundance of experienced writers who would be better suited.  Maggie can't believe that her boss is even considering bringing Flarsky on board, but her objections go for naught.

Fred has an advisor of sorts too, wingman Lance, played by O'Shea Jackson, Jr.  At first I believed the actor to be Ice Cube, and thought it strange that I hadn't seen the former rapper's name on the movie posters.  It wasn't until I returned home that I discovered O'Shea Jackson, Jr. is Ice Cube's son.  "O'Shea Jackson," I learned, is Ice Cube's real name.  The resemblance is unmistakable.  Lance and Fred combine for the film's funniest scene in which Fred, who is a left-leaning white, is astounded when his black friend "confesses" he is a Republican.

As Fred and Charlotte spend more time together, under the pretext of him getting to know her better in order to make his compositions appear to be her own thoughts, the stark differences between them slowly dissolve and an affair is kindled.  She adopts his ideologies, particularly those pertaining to the environment, more than vice versa.  Subplots such as those are mostly predictable, as is the standard "boy looses girl" divergence.

I was going to stick this film with a C or C+.  Save for the Republican joke I was not that impressed with the level of humor in a film advertised as a comedy.  Over half of the jokes were too crude for my taste, and I'm a little disappointed and surprised that Theron would sink to that level when she undoubtedly has her choice of many scripts and projects from which to chose.  Do I sound too much like a grouchy old man?  Then I realized that, in spite of its marketing, this film is more accurately a farce.  In my view, a farce is a subset of comedy.  Reality is to be discarded.  What stands to reason is far from the rule of the day.  Not all the pieces need to fit.  Okay; I might be able to buy this offering as a total farce.  As the Beatles once sang, I should have known better, especially with the irreverent Rogen as the leading male.  I will slightly relent and give Long Shot a B-.