“It’s ‘Pretty Woman,’ but she’s Richard Gere and you’re Julia Roberts.”
That line, which is uttered in the new trailer for “Long Shot,” explains the premise in the most concise way imaginable. The film, which made it’s debut recently at SXSW, follows the controversial love affair between a powerful politician (Charlize Theron) and her lowly speechwriter (Seth Rogen). You see, basically, reverse-”Pretty Woman,” but without the whole sex work thing.
As mentioned, “Long Shot” recently debuted during SXSW to open and loving critical arms. Wisely moving off of its original mid-term elections, fall 2018 release date, Seth Rogen and Co. decided to wait until the much more comedy-friendly grounds of Austin, Texas to debut his latest subversive rom-com. Apparently, Rogen and the folks behind-the-scenes are smart enough to realize that a romantic comedy with a politician and a bumbling speechwriter isn’t really a great election-time film, especially considering the current state of American politics. Do we really need Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron to be talking points on Fox News? Yeah, no.
Plus, “Long Shot” was perfectly positioned for a rapturous SXSW debut. Rogen, along with comedic pals like Judd Apatow, routinely do amazingly at the festival, which has quickly become the proving ground for raunchy, well-written comedies. Just this year alone, the funny actor/writer/producer debuted “Long Shot” and “Good Boys,” both with strong reviews. Then you had other comedies like “Booksmart” and “Stuber” also priming audiences for a strong year of comedies.
But back to the film at hand, “Long Shot” stars the aforementioned Theron and Rogen, as well as the great June Diane Raphael, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and Alexander Skarsgård as the very handsome Prime Minister of Canada.
“Long Shot” is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 3.