Review: "Long Shot" is a romantic comedy about the Trump era (and it works!)



[ad_1]

Since the 2016 election, the new relationships have had to deal with the unknown threshold of the couple who must exchange their political ideas before things get too serious. It is a strange and unexpected symptom of modern discourse that divides the world, with people who speak of red and blue allegiances with more rigidity, less compromise and, at the first meeting, more cautious than ever. Long Shot is about this dynamic. It's a romantic comedy from the Trump era, and it works because it's open to its political leanings.

Long ShotThe configuration of the device creates partisan tensions. Seth Rogen is a radical liberal journalist who falls into writing a speech for the secretary of state Charlize Theron, who happens to be her former babysitter. Theron shares some of Rogen's leftist views, but his compromises irritate him and, as their relationship develops, the conflicts of their positions, views and individual values ​​complicate their already delicate power dynamics. employer and employee. It is a real network of relationship problems that the film arouses with laughter.

Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron fit into the paradoxically classic paradigm of "improbable coupling". Rogen is the athlete in pursuit of the woman out of his championship and Theron is his fierce and successful counterpart. He must learn one or two things about real life. She needs to have fun. You know the chorus.

May be Long Shot This does not make his main novel believable, but Rogen and Theron are two performers in search of nothing, and that means you will be disappointed anyway by the high facts that the film produces anyway, from the very beginning. an absurd journey of Molly (and its hilarious consequences) to a wild-action pseudo-action that allows Charlize to do things radically Charlize while Rogen provides Rogen's reactions. Long Shot knows the strengths of his player and in his best moments, he lets them bend.

But like any romantic comedy, Long Shot ends up lowering ridicule and joking in favor of sincerity, and it is here that the film presents its political commentary. It's well played, no matter where you are or between the different party lines. Although his main characters are liberal, Long Shot is bipartisan. He advocates a healthy political discourse on any specific ideology.

The film version of the Roman confessional is actually twice, once between Rogen and Theron and once between Rogen and his best friend, played by O'Shea Jackson, Jr. The first is cathartic, especially for Theron, but the latest Long Shot wider, and that's when people from all walks of life will find common ground with the film's point of view.

Rogen brings his romantic complaints to Jackson, explaining how frustrated he is with Theron's political practices. Jackson hears his friend go out, then takes a breath and admits to his friend that he is Republican. Rogen is shocked; Remember that his character is the leftmost person in the movie. His indignity and Jackson's subsequent boastful lines ("I'm talking about the GOP and the GOD!"), Cajole the biggest laughter of the entire movie, but the moment is propitious both to its sincere foundation and to its promising future.

Once Rogen emerged from his "I was friends with a Republican and a Christian all this time?!"Shellshock, Jackson and he are assessing their friendship in the light of their new understanding. In the end, the only thing that changes is their decision to change nothing. They do not leave their personal values ​​behind and meet in the middle. Instead, they take a look at each other's experiences and educate themselves with positions of mutual respect. It is an idealistic and achievable image of what a healthy political dialogue looks like in 2019. It does not come with a false harmonic note or a message "we are not so different after all!" He recognizes the real differences between voters in America while showing how these differences can coexist. It's awesome.

The scene has an application in the film and without. In the movie, Rogen returns to Theron and affirms her feelings for her while acknowledging that their favorite political engagement patterns may differ. The important thing is his support for her, not necessarily his support for his policy. She, in turn, gives herself the power to take a stand for what she believes in spite of their disagreement. As far as rom-com endings are concerned, it's generally good, although more nuanced than usual.

But taken outside the movie, Long ShotThe closures are ambitious. Today's political disputes are most often resolved by a) an inconvenient form of "agreeing not to agree" or b) breaking hate speech. online. Chances are, we've all seen both. What differentiates the resolution of this film is its redefinition of tolerance. Tolerance is not passive here; it's active. It is characterized by the choice of someone to validate the experience of someone else while maintaining his or her personal convictions.

Roma comedians do not have to be so smart, but this movie – like a neglected male role – exceeds expectations. Almost all romantic films are well-ordered, but very few recognize the real-world mess. Long Shot delivers the satisfaction of the first line alongside the provocative reflection of the second. Politics has not felt so funny for a long time; they did not feel inclusive either.

[ad_2]

Source link