cinematic roots of: ‘Going the Distance’

No movie springs from a vacuum. There are always influences from past examples of the genre, from the previous work of the filmmakers and stars, even from similar films that don’t quite work. If you want to understand where a movie is coming from, take a look at where it’s coming from.

In Going the Distance, the adorable couple of Drew Barrymore and Justin Long attempt to maintain a relationship while one of them is in New York and the other in San Francisco. This flick sprang from (among other films):

• Sleepless in Seattle (1993), perhaps the classic tale of long-distance romance, even if lovers Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan don’t even actually meet until the final moment of the film.

• Fever Pitch (in the U.K., The Perfect Catch) (2005), for more of Drew Barrymore as a modern romantic heroine; here, her baseball agnostic falls in love with a rabid Red Sox fan (Jimmy Fallon). Be warned that the 1997 British original, also called Fever Pitch, is far superior.

• Accepted (2006), for a delightful Justin Long as an unconventional college student creating his own higher-education experience.

• American Teen (2008), the first film by director Nanette Burstein, an excellent documentary about the trials and tribulations of today’s kids through the eyes of one small-town high school.