What happens when an Oscar winner and a comedian team up in a Romantic Comedy? It works, actually. For the most part anyway. Even though Long Shot is clearly an adult movie as evidence by it’s R rating, I’m giving you a Long Shot parent movie review just in case you think it doesn’t look *that* bad for the older kids. “
Long Shot was on my, well, long shot list of being a breakout hit for the summer. But I might be a tad bit biased by a few things.
- I love rom-coms. Like, almost as much as I love my Marvel Movies. Don’t @ me- I said ALMOST.
- I adore Charlize Theron as an actress and as a woman. There’s nothing basic or simple about her and I can watch her on screen all day long. The Italian Job is my weird Charlize obsession- if it’s on TV, I’m watching it.
- Seth Rogen is hilarious, even when he’s gross. I was hoping the gross meter would be on the low end for this one… alas… more on that in a minute.
Is Long Shot worth paying money in the theater for or is this more a wait for it on Netflix kind of thing?
Table of Contents
About Long Shot
Directed by Jonathan Levine and Starring Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen, June Diane Raphael, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ravi Patel, Bob Odenkirk
Long Shot Run Time: 2 hours 5 minutes (but it goes by pretty fast!)
Why is Long Shot rated R?
Some movies I go into wondering why it’s rated what it’s rated. But Long Shot was pretty obvious and the MPAA got it right with its R rating.
- strong sexual content
- strong language throughout
- some drug use- some of it is obvious and part of the plot line, so you can’t just shrug it off for a younger viewer
While not officially on the list, I’m going to add violence to this one. There’s a scene early on where Rogen has a horrific fall and I cringed and looked away. It was brutal, man!
Another scene includes being caught in a war zone and that could be intense for younger viewers. Charlize, however, handled it like a BOSS and I loved to see that on screen.
Charlize Theron stars as ‘Charlotte Fields’ in LONG SHOT. Photo Credit: Philippe Bossé.
If You Decide To Take The Kids to Long Shot
I’d vote for teens and up on this one. And teens that are responsible with their own language usage- cause, man, I lost count how many times they swore in this movie.
Upwards of 100+ is my guess, along with quite a few sexual scenes (while not explicit, it’s clear what’s happening) this one gets the older teen or no teen vote from me.
If you do take the kids to Long Shot, its a movie full of parent discussion topics for the car ride home.
- Does the 24/7 media affect the way you view your political candidates?
- Blackmail and how you can handle it I don’t want to spoil it, but since this is a political film you know there’s going to be someone that tries to derail the candidate. Good talking point for kids on how to handle situations like this (though theirs may be more on a teen to teen level, I hope!).
- Accepting friends no matter who they vote for or believe in. Fred finds out, to his horror, that his long-time friend is of the opposite political party and has a strong faith. The conversation that followed was one of the highlights for me- and would be a fantastic opportunity to have that discussion with your teen.
- One of the media affiliates was 100000% misogynistic. Great conversation starter as to why that’s 1) wrong and 2) why it’s important to get your news from multiple sources.
Maggie (June Diane Raphael), Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), and Tom (Ravi Patel) in Long Shot
Long Shot Review
Overall, I enjoyed Long Shot and think it’s worth seeing in the theater. And I was surprised that Theron and Rogen have actual chemistry together- it was adorable, really.
The performances were hilarious and touching. Tucked inside some super-crass humor was a movie with heart and even a few lessons.
There were some moments that are important in 2019 to discuss (how women are treated on the political scene) that deserved a bit more attention. I’d rather see that take a more prominent position than the “loser-boy gets the hot-girl” focus of the movie.
And yes, the humor is pretty crass. The language and the sexual scenes (male masturbation is one focus) they decide to show on screen gave me some cringe into the back of my seat moments. I think I’d prefer it to be toned down by half as it probably wasn’t all needed to get the points across.
But it was a Seth Rogen led movie, so … what did I expect? By the way- Superbad is one of my laugh-out-loud movies, so I’m not a total prude or anything. I just felt this flick didn’t need *all* the language they stuffed into it.
Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) and Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) in LONG SHOT.
The other negative is how predictable it was and how unrealistic the ending and wrap up became. And by calling that a negative, I am assuming that’s what others will call it.
But to be honest, I’m WAY ok with that. I go to the movies to be entertained and filled up, not dragged too far into reality. The Long Shot bet on that and won me over, anyway, by allowing me to smile on my way out of the theater.
If you’re looking for something to distract and amuse you, or maybe to fit in between your showing of Avengers: Endgame perhaps, then I’d say Long Shot is a great option for a matinee movie or a date-night.
I saw it on a Monday morning following opening weekend, and the theater was about half full- which tells me there are some buzz and interest in this one.
When Can You Pee During Long Shot?
When you gotta go, you gotta go! I even had to run out to pee during Avengers: Endgame. And if you know me, well… I gotta go a lot. So this is an important part of any movie review for myself.
When’s the best time to pee during Long Shot and not miss too much?
- After Charlotte gives her first speech. It’s around 47-50 minutes into the movie. They flip through a travel scene which you don’t need. So … GO!
- Around the 1 hour mark. I don’t remember exactly what happened but you can pop out and literal not miss a thing. I was looking for a halfway mark and this was definitely it!
Long Shot Parent Movie Review
My children are 16, 14, 12 and 7. Here are my recommendations for each age based on my children’s maturity levels.
So you want to know if Long Shot is safe for kids? Pretty much: nope. Unless your family is extremely open with discussions on language, drug use, and adult situations.
Long Shot Parent Movie Review for Teens and Tweens
Things are a bit murky in this age range. As I mentioned above, I feel like there are some great discussion topics that could be had through this movie. So I won’t give it a hard no for some kids.
Teens are probably not going to be embarrassed by the language- but maybe they should be? And by limiting the exposure to this kind of movie could be a good parenting move.
The masturbation scene and the aftermath could open some sex discussion with your kids- which isn’t a bad thing. But every family is different so while this might be ok for some, it’s going to be a naaaahhh for others.
8 to 10-years old
Easy recommendation Long Shot Parent Movie Review: no way! Same for 7 and Under.
7 and Under
Nope, again.
Patty Holliday is a parent movie reviewer, writer, and podcaster living in the Washington, DC area. Her goal is to bridge the gap between casual fandom and picky critic with parent movie and television reviews. As a lifelong fangirl and pop culture connoisseur, she’s been creating online since 2009. You can find her work at No-Guilt Disney.com, No-Guilt Fangirl.com, No-Guilt Life, and as host of the top-rated No-Guilt Disney Podcast.