Big Miracle

Inspired by the true story that captured the hearts of people across the world, the rescue adventure Big Miracle tells the amazing tale of a small town news reporter (John Krasinski) and an animal-loving volunteer (Drew Barrymore) who are joined by rival world superpowers to save a family of majestic gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle.

Local newsman Adam Carlson (Krasinski) can’t wait to escape the northern tip of Alaska for a bigger market. But just when the story of his career breaks, the world comes chasing it, too. With an oil tycoon, heads of state and hungry journalists descending upon the frigid outpost, the one who worries Adam the most is Rachel Kramer (Barrymore). Not only is she an outspoken environmentalist, she’s also his ex-girlfriend.

With time running out, Rachel and Adam must rally an unlikely coalition of Inuit natives, oil companies and Russian and American military to set aside their differences and free the whales. As the world’s attention turns to the top of the globe, saving these endangered animals becomes a shared cause for nations entrenched against one another and leads to a momentary thaw in the Cold War.

Opens Friday, February 3, 2012.

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Review – Going the Distance

The summer of 2010 is drawing to a close but not without once last fling in the form of a romantic comedy about long distance relationships appropriately titled Going the Distance. Can real-life couple Justin Long and Drew Barrymore go toe to toe with the Na’vi, machete wielding tough guys and possessed teenagers and come out on top of the box office? Well that depends. Does the idea of Christina Applegate dry humping work for you on any level?

New Yorker Garrett (Justin Long) meets Erin (Drew Barrymore) a mere few hours after the dissolution of his most recent relationship. Californian Erin is finishing up a summer internship at a Gotham newspaper and not looking for a meaningful relationship. Good thing neither is Garrett. Six weeks later however, to the dismay of Garrett’s best friends Dan (“Sunny in Philadelphia’s” Charlie Day) and Box (a mustachioed Jason Sudeikis) the casual tryst has developed into a full-blown relationship. The time has come for Erin to return to San Francisco and her over protective sister (Christina Applegate) so a big decision has to be made and Erin and Garrett decide to continue their relationship from opposite sides of the country. Interfering friends and loved ones, loneliness and sexual frustration threaten to break the couple apart. The moment of truth comes when Erin and Garrett have to examine what they really want and what or who is best for them.

Let’s face it, you can’t get more adorable than Justin Long and Drew Barrymore. Justin gets to flex his leading man muscles much more than he was able to in He’s Just Not That Into You. He steps up his game by making Garrett charming, romantic and sympathetic. It’s very helpful that he has a cute butt, especially with a hand print on it. This is not Drew’s first rom-com rodeo. It’s a genre she excels at. What’s refreshing in this movie is that Erin has a bit of an edge to her. She’s gun-shy about relationships, having put her life on hold once before for some guy. That manifests in her dry humor and cavalier attitude. But there is also the sweetness we’re accustomed to seeing from our Barrymore characters. It’s a nice combination that makes Erin feel very real.

The secondary players pretty much steal the show in this film. Charlie Day is odd and lovable. Jason Sudeikis gives some horrible advice to our hero but some of his stranger theories end up with some credibility. My favorite performances were Christina Applegate as Erin’s sister Corrine and Jim Gaffigan as her brother in law Phil. Applegate in particular is hysterical. She is truly an under-used comedienne. One2Watch4 is Kelli Garner as Garrett’s comely co-worker Brianna. If you saw Lars and the Real Girl you may not believe that Kelli was the same sweet Margo.

This is one of those romantic comedies that ladies can feel all right bringing their fellas to. It’s a good mix of crass humor and sweet moments to appeal to a wider audience. And by crass I don’t mean Hangover crass. It’s more like 40 Year Old Virgin crass. The dialogue and situations seem natural, conversations you’d have with your friends. That’s got to be due in large part to the director, Nanette Burstein whose previous work was in documentaries. It has that voyeur feel to it in several scenes. All in all Going the Distance is an enjoyable movie. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. For once not all the funny bits were in the commercials mainly because you couldn’t show the funniest bits on TV. Well maybe you could on cable.

Going the Distance

Erin’s (Drew Barrymore) wry wit and unfiltered frankness charm newly single Garrett (Justin Long) over beer, bar trivia and breakfast the next morning. Their chemistry sparks a full-fledged summer fling, but neither expects it to last once Erin heads home to San Francisco and Garrett stays behind for his job in New York City. But when six weeks of romping through the city inadvertently become meaningful, neither is sure they want it to end. And while Garrett’s friends, Box (Jason Sudeikis) and Dan (Charlie Day), joke about his pre-flight calorie-cutting and his full-time relationship with his cell phone, they don’t like losing their best drinking buddy to yet another rocky romance. At the same time, Erin’s high-strung, overprotective married sister, Corrine (Christina Applegate), wants to keep Erin from heading down an all-too-familiar road.

But despite the opposite coasts, the nay-saying friends and family, and a few unexpected temptations, the couple just might have found something like love, and with the help of a lot of texting, sexting and late-night phone calls, they might actually go the distance.

Academy Award®-nominated documentary filmmaker Nanette Burstein (“On the Ropes”) makes her feature film directorial debut with “Going the Distance.” The film is written by Geoff LaTulippe and stars Golden Globe Award winner Drew Barrymore (“Grey Gardens”), Justin Long (“He’s Just Not That Into You”), Charlie Day (TV’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), Jason Sudeikis (TV’s “Saturday Night Live”), Jim Gaffigan (“17 Again”) and Golden Globe Award nominee Christina Applegate (TV’s “Samantha Who?” and “Jesse”).

The film is produced by Adam Shankman (“17 Again”), Jennifer Gibgot (“The Last Song”) and Garrett Grant (“Hairspray”). Dave Neustadter, Richard Brener and Michael Disco serve as executive producers.

Burstein’s behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Eric Steelberg (“Up in the Air”), production designer Kevin Kavanaugh (“Whip It”), editor Peter Teschner (“Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”), costume designer Catherine Marie Thomas (“The Proposal”) and composer Mychael Danna (“(500) Days of Summer”).

A New Line Cinema production, “Going the Distance” is scheduled for release on September 3, 2010 and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

The film is rated R by the MPAA for sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity.

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Whip It

Drew Barrymore makes her directorial debut with Whip It!, the story of an ex-beauty pageant contestant named Bliss (played by Juno’s Ellen Page) who leaves her crowns behind after joining a roller-derby team. While her mother would prefer that Bliss unlace her skates and step back before the judges, the rebellious teen instead seeks the wisdom of rowdy mentor Malice in Wonderland (Kristen Wiig) in learning the tricks of the circuit track. The Mandate Pictures production was written by roller derby star-turned-screenwriter Shauna Cross. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Opens Friday October 2nd.

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