With “Going the Distance,” we once again enter the realm of the not-terrible, which is better than expected.

I’ll admit right from the jump here: I’m not a Drew Barrymore fan. I find most of her performances mannered; I always feel as though I can see her acting. And, most of the time, she’s acting cute.

But in “Going the Distance,” Barrymore feels much less actorish, playing a young woman caught in a romantic dilemma: Does she choose the guy or her career? She’s got a natural ease I haven’t seen since, oh, I don’t know, “E.T.”

And that may have something to do with her costar. Actually, it probably has everything to do with the fact that she’s playing opposite her real-life squeeze, Justin Long. And Long is a talented comedian who, apparently, can make even Drew Barrymore look good. (More…)