Long Shot (Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen) – Range. Some actors spend their whole professional careers playing characters for which they were seemingly born. Jimmy Stewart is the best example I can think of. Stewart was a wonderfully likeable actor whose dozens of roles never strayed too far from his personal image. Contrast that to Tom Hanks who played everything from silly to sorrowful. Hanks defines range in an actor.
So does Charlize Theron, whose roles have ranged from her Oscar nominated performance in Monster to mysterious in Sweet November to sweet in The Legend of Bagger Vance and, now, to her funny, sexy turn in Long Shot.
While pairing Theron with Seth Rogen seems unusual, she was Rogen’s first choice to play Secretary of State Charlotte Field in this hysterical comedy. Field is the workaholic globetrotter managing the nation’s foreign relations while Rogen is a crusading journalist with no emotional governor and no sense of fashion or respect for authority. After quitting his job following a buy-out by one of those heartless media conglomerates, he serendipitously finds himself at the same party as Field, who had been his babysitter when he was a kid.
He always had a thing for his babysitter (so would you if your babysitter had been Charlize Theron) and she always liked the nerdy kid. Now, she is looking for a speechwriter and he re-ignites her passion for climate change without compromise.
The rest is just good fun with a touch of danger, raunchiness, and a merry mix-up or two. The leads make the film irresistible. There is surprising chemistry between Theron and Rogen, mostly because of Theron’s performance. After all, you always get the same character with Rogen (no range, just fun). Theron really seems to have fun with the Charlotte character and so do we.
I only saw this film because it was raining in Seattle and this was the only movie worth paying money to see. I’m glad I did. It was the most fun I have had at the theater in a while thanks to the range of Theron and the vision of Rogen.