In 23 seasons of The Real World, there have been countless roommates who spend the bulk of their running time either a) on the phone with the significant others they left behind, b) moaning to the camera about the significant others they left behind, or c) cheating on the significant others they left behind. The Drew Barrymore/Justin Long romcom Going the Distance is about a young couple doing a) and b) but fearing the possibility of c).
The new trailer for the film is cute enough, and it has a couple of things going it: a highly regarded Black List screenplay, and a director, Nanette Burnstein, who's transitioning from the documentary feature world (though her last film, American Teen, felt like a staged narrative anyway). Barrymore and an unnervingly muscle-bound Long are sweet, and the supporting cast is stocked with pleasant faces like Jason Sudeikis and Christina Applegate, as these things often are.
However, do I really want to watch a couple Skype to each other for two hours and whine to their friends about how hard it is to carry out a long-distance relationship? Inevitably, those types of people are the most boring Real World roommates, and I'm not sure that having them played by Barrymore and Long is going to help matters that much. (Unless Long breaks out a Seattle David rallying cry of, "Kiraaaa, you're breaking my heaaaart!")
VERDICT: Jury's out.