The 80s Are "Going the Distance"

The other night I saw the funny and sweet Going the Distance, starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long and was surprised and ridiculously delighted by all the 80s references.

The film is most definitely set in current times with texting and skyping galore, but someone involved in this movie was clearly jonesing for the 80s and found any which way to stick the decade in there, starting but certainly not ending with a game of Atari's Centipede.

Then there was a quick move over to a guy in a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, collar up, and before I knew it we were staring at a poster of Tom Cruise in Top Gun!  This was followed up by a  morning wake-up call with "Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing. 

While the Going the Distance soundtrack is by no means an "80s Mix Tape," 80s bands get plenty of play in the film, including songs by The Cure, The Replacements, The Pretenders, and Berlin.

I didn't hear any Beastie Boys, but our main boy does name Licensed to Ill as his favorite album.

The 80s picture wouldn't be complete without the fashion.  In addition to the polo shirt mentioned above, Barrymore wears an off-the-shoulder number out to dinner, and check out this ensemble to the left.  Oversized shirt, skinny jeans, ginormous belt.  And, I do believe those are Chuck Taylors Justin is sporting.

The movie wasn't perfect---some of the jokes felt a bit forced and "obnoxious friend guy" crossed the believability line more than once---but the two leads had great chemistry and adorable dialogue, and I found the guy humor refreshing in a romantic comedy. But if raunch isn't your thing, be warned that the movie is peppered with it.

If you're looking for something fun, sexy, and sentimental with a touch of 80s thrown in, why then, I'd say this movie is "Just Like Heaven" (on the soundtrack):