Long Shot Review: Charlize Theron & Seth Rogen Hook Up In Political Rom-Com
Plus a review of Netflix's Wandering Earth.
Long Shot (M18)
Starring Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen, Andy Serkis, Alexander Skarsgård
Directed by Jonathan Levin
Seth Rogen has a history of playing characters who hook up with women way out of their league: Amber Heard (Pineapple Express), Rose Byrne (Bad Neighbours), and Katherine Heigel (Knocked Up). Now the regal Charlize Theron joins that list, as the Secretary of State-turned-presidential candidate who falls in love with Rogen’s liberal journo-turned-speech writer.
They make a cute odd couple (especially in scenes involving recreational drugs) but their differing political beliefs, a protective head of staff (Grace and Frankie’s June Diane Raphael), and a bullying mogul (an unrecognisable Andy Serkis under layers of prosthetics) threaten to derail their romance. Alexander Skarsgård is a hoot as the dishy Canadian PM — and potential suitor for the Madam Secretary — with a goofy laugh.
Pretty Woman is an obvious influence for this raunchy, if a little uneven, rom-com (cue Roxette’s ‘It Must Have Been Love’ on the soundtrack), as is Veep, but with an extra smidgen of, ahem, body fluid thrown (discharged?) into the comical cauldron. Here’s the thing: Pretty Woman is a fairy tale; Long Shot is more, like, sci-fi. (***)
Photo: Lionsgate/Golden Village
The Wandering Earth (PG13)
Starring Wu Jing, Qu Chuxiao, Li Guangjie
Directed by Frant Gwo
The first thing you notice about China’s No.1 homegrown flick of 2019 — with nearly US$700 million (S$853 mil) in the coffers — is the sheer number of companies behind it: 22. Twenty-frigging-two.
It seems fitting for an epic about all of humanity pooling their resources to save Earth from being devoured by an expanding Sun. The solution: Propel Earth out of the solar system using 10,000 stellar engines, including one in Singapore! (Wonder what Neil deGrasse Tyson would make of the science, though.)
The story is built with spare parts of Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow and Space Battleship Yamato, but its apocalyptic visual effects are pretty impressive (though the grandeur of created-for-IMAX sequences is diminished on the small screen). All that's missing is an Aerosmith power ballad.
Wolf Warrior’s Wu Jing plays a navigator trying to save the ambitious exodus project in space while repairing the estranged relationship with his children back on Earth. The movie isn’t cheery but it does end on a hopeful, let’s-set-aside-our-differences-and-work-together note. In Mandarin with English and Chinese subtitles. On Netflix. (***)
Photo: Netflix
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