Going the Distance

Wow, who'd thought it. An underground film that has a pop star in it is an advertisement to lameness. Fortunately, this one is the exception.

The story and the casting here are very similar to "American Pie", but better written. Despite some predictable scenes like the two old girls in the bar, the film is most of the time surprising and we don't know what's gonna happen next. These boys face lots of situations that are possible (and funny), like the naughty girl daughter of the farmer. That scene was hilarious, a la Scary Movie.

Thumbs up for Shawn Roberts and Mayko Nguyen who really do their best to get in this film's mood. And congratulations for the writer - I really found the plot very entertaining.

Going the Distance was amazingly cute. I kept expecting it to go tragically corny and predictable, and it did... But it did it in such a fresh and funny way I'd watch it again.

I did enjoy the Canadian angle, that they never diluted, or make a joke of being Canadian. And they kept me entertained throughout, even if there were only 1 or 2 flat out laughs. Everything was funny, and the few jokes that were over the top were in great context

Plus, the cameos were amazing. How they got great names to play bit parts in a straight to DVD movie was pretty cool.

It's not a must see. But it is something you should see.

First I would like to point out that it's GOB not Sum 41. Also I thought the cameos from Avril, GOB, the MUCH Music dude, and Swollen Members was pretty cool to see. As the topic states I think this is like a Canadian version of American Pie. Only better. It seemed to go farther than AP was willing to go. The storyline was cheesy and predictable but it's a teen comedy. It's main purpose is to make people laugh. Which I did. Hopes this helps with anyone's decision on whether or not to watch it.

P.S. Not every movie needs to be totally artsy or indie to be watchable.

My friends and I were torn between Without a Paddle with the many known actors and Going the Distance a Canadian production with few people that we could identify. We decided that, being Canadian, we should give the Canadian movie our support. I need to say that we were not disappointed! Going the Distance had so much that is necessary to a great "teen" movie: fun, laughs, love, sex, drugs, alcohol and extreme behaviors. The movie showed us beautiful and some familiar locations, such as the Much Music Corner in Toronto. It is great to see that everything about the movie was Canadian and it showed people that we do not need to go to Europe for a summer trip and that there is fun to be had in Canada! "Eh!?"

It used to be that having National Lampoon in the title meant comedy gold. Two of the greatest comedies of all time, ANIMAL HOUSE and VACATION carried the National Lampoon banner. Throughout the 90s, National Lampoon continued to lend its name to such classics as SENIOR TRIP and LOADED WEAPON 1. For a while, it seemed like the greatness of the National Lampoon name would never die, especially after 2002's VAN WILDER, the closest college comedy to ANIMAL HOUSE since REVENGE OF THE NERDS. Then in 2003, the Lampoon name was scarred with THANKSGIVING FAMILY REUNION, a bad TV movie that premiered on TBS. That same year the Lampoon took another blow with the mediocre NATIONAL LAMPOON PRESENTS DORM DAZE. Now with GOING THE DISTANCE, the downfall of National Lampoon continues.

GOING THE DISTANCE isn't even an American made movie. It's a Canadian ROAD TRIP clone that has nothing to do with the National Lampoon name. The only slightest Lampoon element was the whole guy-trying-to-ruin trip subplot was also done in SENIOR TRIP, but at least there it was funny. Here, it's the weakest part of the movie. It just doesn't work. In fact, 50% of the jokes in GOING THE DISTANCE don't work, which is rather unfortunate since the film had potential. I dug the first few opening scenes and thought that the film could end up being worthy of the National Lampoon name. However, after fifteen minutes had gone by, I realized this was sadly yet another direct-to-video dud. There were a few good laughs and Joanne Kelly was quite cute, but that wasn't enough to save this flick. 4/10