Film

Long Shot

Other titles called Long Shot: the 2017 film.

A scrappy journalist and a presidential candidate who used to know each other discover unexpected chemistry as he joins her campaign. It's a romantic comedy that actually wants you to like both people, directed with genuine warmth and buoyed by Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen's disarming chemistry. For anyone who still believes in the rom-com but craves something with a political edge and a bit of real stake.

TMDb rating3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a political romantic comedy that trades on crude, shaggy banter and a surprisingly sweet pairing of two people who are clearly out of their depth together.

Skip it if you tire of crude gags, since the jokes lean raunchy and the 125 minutes feel generous for a romance with this much shouting.

What it asks of you: A long, talky sit where the comedy arrives in bursts and the romance builds at its own unhurried pace rather than in neat beats.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Notting Hill1999

A messy, clever romantic comedy about two people from different worlds finding each other in the chaos of fame and ordinariness. Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts have the same easy rapport that makes you root for them despite everything.

But The early-90s vibe has calcified in places, and some of the supporting characters are thin enough to blow away.

Notting Hill poster

Ghostbusters1984

Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd prove that comedy works best when the leads genuinely seem to like each other. The banter is what carries you, not the plot mechanics. It's proof the formula still works when the chemistry is real.

But The special effects are dated and some jokes land harder on rewatches than on first viewing. It's episodic in a way modern comedies aren't.

Ghostbusters poster

Legally Blonde2001

Reese Witherspoon brings total commitment to a woman everyone underestimates, and the film trusts that her journey is worth your time. Smart, goofy, and genuinely rooting for its protagonist—much like Long Shot does with both its leads.

But The humour can feel lightweight, and some of the supporting characters are more caricature than person. The message occasionally overwhelms the joke.

Legally Blonde poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Long Shot

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Iron Lady2011

Both films are about a woman in power trying to navigate a world built to undermine her, and both trust their lead actress to carry the moral and emotional complexity of that position.

Charlize Theron plays Margaret Thatcher with the same commitment she brings to Charlotte Field—a woman trying to lead while the world insists on seeing her as either saint or villain. It's political and personal in the way Long Shot wants to be, but with real historical weight and no escape hatch.

But It's heavy, sometimes glum, and offers no easy answers or romantic resolution. Thatcher is not an entirely sympathetic figure, and the film doesn't smooth over that difficulty.

The Iron Lady poster
More like this (8)

When Harry Met Sally...1989

The template for romantic comedies that actually care about conversation and character. Two people who shouldn't work together discover they do, and it feels earned rather than imposed. The writing is sharp enough to rewatch.

But The pacing is leisurely—it moves at the speed of talk, not plot. If you need constant action, you'll fidget.

When Harry Met Sally... poster

Midnight in Paris2011

A romantic comedy that believes in the power of writing, history, and the people who make you want to be better. Owen Wilson and Marion Cotillard have a sweetness that doesn't require slapstick to work. It's warm without being saccharine.

But Woody Allen's worldview hasn't aged well for many viewers, and the film's nostalgia can tip into self-indulgence. Some find it too gentle to care about.

Midnight in Paris poster

Forgetting Sarah Marshall2008

A comedy that remembers that hurt feelings are funny because they're real. Jason Segel and Kristen Bell have genuine chemistry, and the film never punches down at its characters. It's generous and hilarious in equal measure.

But The plot is fairly thin and relies on you accepting a lot of convenient timing. Some of the humour is aggressively crude in ways that haven't aged gracefully.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall poster

You've Got Mail1998

Two people from opposite sides of a conflict fall for each other without knowing it, creating genuine tension and warmth. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are so likeable that the contrivance doesn't matter. It's a film about words and connection.

But The class politics are muddled and occasionally queasy. New York in 1998 looks like a fantasy that excludes most of the city. It's very of its time.

You've Got Mail poster

The Proposal2009

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds have an almost dangerous amount of chemistry, and the film lets them play off each other rather than fighting the premise. It moves quickly, commits fully to its absurdity, and both leads seem to be having fun.

But The plot is pure contrivance and the resolution tied up too neatly for comfort. Betty White's inclusion doesn't cover the structural laziness of the third act.

The Proposal poster

Crazy, Stupid, Love.2011

An ensemble romantic comedy that somehow keeps multiple storylines aloft without any of them collapsing. The cast has real chemistry, and it balances humour with genuine insight about what relationships actually require.

But It's overstuffed and occasionally tries to have it both ways on serious questions. Some plotlines resolve too easily after being treated as genuine problems.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. poster

In Good Company2004

Both are comedies about people from different worlds finding connection through work, where the real drama is emotional rather than external, and where growth matters more than victory.

A romance built around journalism, mentorship, and the discovery that you might be wrong about who you are. The film moves slowly, trusts its dialogue, and finds humour in awkwardness rather than plot. Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace have an easy rapport that feels genuinely won.

But Almost nothing happens in the traditional sense. The stakes feel small compared to Long Shot's bigger arena. For viewers who need propulsion, this will feel static.

In Good Company poster

Tootsie1982

Like Long Shot, it's built on the idea that you discover something true about someone when you work alongside them, and that attraction can bloom from professional respect and genuine surprise at who someone turns out to be.

Dustin Hoffman's transformation into Dorothy Michaels is the vehicle for one of cinema's sharpest romances and sharpest comedies about gender, power, and pretence. It's genuinely hilarious, genuinely moving, and the relationship that emerges from the chaos feels earned and complicated. Jessica Lange is magnificent.

But The gender comedy is rooted in 1982 attitudes that haven't aged perfectly. Some of the central conceit now reads as dated in ways that occasionally undercut the film's generosity. It's longer than you'd expect a comedy to be.

Tootsie poster

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