The premise of “Going the Distance” is simply that of every other romantic comedy in the world­­– guy gets girl, guy loses girl, they get back together, and life moves on. This movie differers slightly because it presents the question “Can two people make a cross-country relationship work?”

Justin Long plays Garrett, who hates his job at a record label, and Drew Barrymore is Erin, a struggling journalist. They are your typical quirky romcom couple– the dorky guy with funny, kind of creepy, typically single friends and the pretty girl who just wants to get her career in line and is sidetracked by the guy. They meet in New York, were Garrett lives, and quickly become attached. When Erin’s summer internship ends and she moves back in with her sister in San Francisco, the two decide they can try to make the long distance relationship work.

My favorite part of the movie, to be honest, was the beginning credits. Therewere images of cartoon maps mixed with planes and pop-up pictures of buildings. Very artsy.

I thoroughly enjoyed Jim Gaffigan as Phil, Garrett’s mustache time machine friend, who thinks that his Tom Selleck-like facial hair will attract older women. It was also nice to see Christina Applegate as Corinne, Erin’s hilariously uptight, clean-freak sister, most of my favorite lines from the film were hers. They were the only two characters in the film that kept my attention.

I wouldn’t say it was a terrible movie but it was predictable, a little boring and had some unnecessary jokes that contributed to the film’s “R” rating. A light sprinkling of pretty funny jokes and great appearances by the band The Boxer Rebellion, as well as a great soundtrack highlighted the average plot. I also appreciated some good music trivia and “Top Gun” references thrown in.

I will award “Going the Distance” one and a half stars for the distractingly weak plot that only kept my interest just enough to stop me from thinking about what homework I had to do but not enough to stop me from looking at the people around the characters and focusing on the props and scenery instead of the dialogue.