"Going the Distance" to "Play With Fire"

In the past week I've actually seen two movies. One last week, and one this past weekend. Both were fairly highly anticipated. Both were decent. Both got me to the theater with good movie-going companions. That's where the comparisons end.

You see, about a month ago I was at a movie with a couple of friends and we all decided that "Going the Distance" looked like a fun movie. Drew Barrymore in a better-than-average romantic comedy about long-distance dating. It had potential. So the three of us actually planned a movie night way in advance. And we went last week.

You know, you really shouldn't plan to go to a movie so far out that your expectations get built up. Because at that point the movie really won't have any chance of meeting those expectations.

Sure, I laughed, winced, and tried to hide behind my hands at all the right times. And I felt for a lot of the characters. But I just didn't think that the movie really went the whole distance.

This weekend, on the other hand, Christopher and I went to see the 2nd of the "The Girl Who..." movies. It had taken me a very long time to see the first one, and I only went after there was truly overwhelming pressure from friends to go to it. For "The Girl Who Played With Fire," though, I have been waiting for a time that Christopher and I could go.

We wrangled that time, yesterday, and went to a late-afternoon matinee. And it was so worth it. I'd heard that the story wasn't as focused this time around, and that it was less intense because of that. And, you know, that wasn't probably a bad thing.

The movie picked up right where the first one ended, and it was another emotional roller coaster. Only this time the two "main" characters really never shared screen time. So as an audience member you keep overlaying all of the backstory onto the movie and you keep hoping for everything to turn out right in spite of it all. By the time it was over all I could think of was that I can't wait for the next one to come out.

Maybe that's the big difference between the two movies. In "Going the Distance" I kind of felt that they had played out all that they could do. But in "The Girl Who Played With Fire" I found myself looking forward to seeing where they go, next.

Overall scores: "Going the Distance" - C+ - so much potential, but the more I think about it the less I like it. "The Girl Who Played With Fire" - B+ - as a second-of-three movie it was fine, but I definitely feel like it was leading somewhere we haven't yet been.