This movie hits the right tone for it's topic--which is how to juggle wanting it all with the realities that love, life, and employment present. The two of them — Garrett (Justin Long) and Erin (Drew Barrymore) — live in a universe of quietly lowered romantic and professional expectations. He works in the music industry, she is an aspiring newspaper reporter, and the movie acknowledges the grim circumstances prevailing in both of their chosen fields without being too apocalyptic about it. The truth is though that both of their ambitions are hedged by a sense of diminished possibility. Which neither of them seems to be willing to attribute to their romantic possibilities, but then, it appears that neither of them has given that much thought, either.
The story goes like this. Erin is in New York City for a summer internship with a newspaper, and she meets Garrett. They meet in a bar, click pretty quickly, and end up in bed together that first night. Well, they were lucky, because while that might ordinarily be a recipe for disaster, in this case the more time they spend together the more they like each other, and the only hitch is that Erin is leaving to go back to school. In six weeks. At which point they are hopelessly attached and not ready to end it.
If they were left to their own devices they might have worked it out just fine--but they both have friends and family who cannot seem to keep their hands off the love games of others. They manage to instill a fair amount of uncertainty into Erin and Garrett's relationship, almost enough to sink it, but somewhere along the way Garrett discovers that he has some choices he has not been exercising, and a ray of hope is injected. Long distance relationships are hard. Making compromise is hard--but you know what? That is the whole name of the game when it comes to sharing your life with others, and the sooner you learn to do it the better. This is a charming look at one couple's attempt at it.
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