Going the Distance (2004)

In order to prevent a recent high school graduate from getting engaged, two friends intervene by taking him on a cross-country road trip.

Director:

Mark Griffiths

Writers:

Eric Goodman (screenplay), Kelly Senecal (screenplay)

Stars:

Christopher Jacot, Joanne Kelly, Shawn Roberts

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Jacot	...	Nick
Joanne Kelly	...	Sasha
Shawn Roberts	...	Tyler
Mayko Nguyen	...	Jill
Ryan Belleville	...	Dime
Katheryn Winnick	...	Trish
August Schellenberg	...	Emile
Matt Frewer	...	Farmer Joseph
Jackie Burroughs	...	Mother Libby
Andrew Airlie	...	Jerry
Lynda Boyd	...	Toni
Jay Brazeau	...	Store Clerk
Andy Jones	...	Portly Customer
Jason Priestley	...	Lenny Swackhammer
Christie Laing	...	Sexy Girl (scenes deleted)

Storyline

He may have just graduated but Nick has it all figured out - marriage, a lucrative career and a totally different lifestyle from that of his West Coast hippy parents. When he discovers that his future wife may be falling prey to a powerful and oversexed music producer, Nick is determined to fly to Toronto to win her back. Lifelong buds and dedicated surfers Tyler and Dime have other ideas for their staid best friend - the road trip adventure of his life. With only three days to make it to the MuchMusic Video Awards, the unlikely road warriors head off. Two sexy hitchhikers, Sasha and Jill, complicate matters and a series of accidents, orchestrated by a malevolent stranger, sabotage the trip turning Nick's future plans upside down.

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Plot Keywords:

fellatio | caught having sex | road trip | oral sex under a table | voyeurism | 

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Taglines:

Dangerous Curves Ahead

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, crude humor, language and drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both Shawn Roberts and Christopher Jacot appeared on Degrassi: The Next Generation on The N as Paige Michalchuk's (Lauren Collins) love interests. Shawn Roberts played Dean, a guy who was interested in Paige and then raped her and Jacot played Matt Oleander, Paige's teacher who later dates her, and then dumps her.

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Quotes

[as the group enters their motel's bar, an older cowgirl woman slaps Dime on his butt]
Dime: Cougar alert. Avert your eyes.
Tyler: And lose this opportunity? Fuck that.
[takes Dime back to the older woman]

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Crazy Credits

After the movie ends, a series of bloopers are shown before the credits begin to roll.

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Connections

References The Exorcist (1973)

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Soundtracks

Open Your Eyes
Performed by Sum 41
Written by Deryck Whibley, Greig Nori
Published by EMI April Music Inc. (ASCAP)/Greig Nori (SOCAN)
Licensed courtesy of Aquarius Records/Island Def Jam Records

User Reviews

The downfall of National Lampoon continues

It used to be that having National Lampoon in the title meant comedy gold. Two of the greatest comedies of all time, ANIMAL HOUSE and VACATION carried the National Lampoon banner. Throughout the 90s, National Lampoon continued to lend its name to such classics as SENIOR TRIP and LOADED WEAPON 1. For a while, it seemed like the greatness of the National Lampoon name would never die, especially after 2002's VAN WILDER, the closest college comedy to ANIMAL HOUSE since REVENGE OF THE NERDS. Then in 2003, the Lampoon name was scarred with THANKSGIVING FAMILY REUNION, a bad TV movie that premiered on TBS. That same year the Lampoon took another blow with the mediocre NATIONAL LAMPOON PRESENTS DORM DAZE. Now with GOING THE DISTANCE, the downfall of National Lampoon continues.

GOING THE DISTANCE isn't even an American made movie. It's a Canadian ROAD TRIP clone that has nothing to do with the National Lampoon name. The only slightest Lampoon element was the whole guy-trying-to-ruin trip subplot was also done in SENIOR TRIP, but at least there it was funny. Here, it's the weakest part of the movie. It just doesn't work. In fact, 50% of the jokes in GOING THE DISTANCE don't work, which is rather unfortunate since the film had potential. I dug the first few opening scenes and thought that the film could end up being worthy of the National Lampoon name. However, after fifteen minutes had gone by, I realized this was sadly yet another direct-to-video dud. There were a few good laughs and Joanne Kelly was quite cute, but that wasn't enough to save this flick. 4/10

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 August 2004 (Canada)

Also Known As:

National Lampoon's Going the Distance

Filming Locations:

299 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$333,126, 22 August 2004

Gross USA:

$1,230,897

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,752,950

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brightlight Pictures, Chum City, National Lampoon

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1