Erin (Drew Barrymore) and Garrett (Justin Long) are two career-depressed people who don’t exactly choose an opportune time to fall in love.

Just six weeks after meeting a guy she is crazy about, Erin has to leave New York and head back to California for graduate school.

Meet the long-distance relationship.

Garrett works in the music business and hates the fact that his company is signing terrible pop bands instead of edgy, alternative groups.

Erin is an intern for a New York newspaper and has high hopes of working for the struggling publication with a boss who has a hard time remembering her name.

The two meet at a bar, become attracted to each other and soon find out they have some important things in common: they both love Tom Cruise and the movie “Shawshank Redemption.”

Almost immediately, the couple becomes quite close as they attempt to soak up the remainder of time together before living on opposite ends of the country.

Drew Barrymore and Justin Long bring their off-camera chemistry from their real on-again, off-again relationship to the screen. Their wit, sarcasm and obvious enticement toward each other couldn’t seem more genuine.

At first, the challenges of the distance between the two don’t seem too tough. Surprise and planned visits help to make up for large gaps without seeing each other.

But then, the whole “life sucks” thing starts to happen. In the harshly-realistic job market, Garrett cannot find a job in California, and after working diligently as an intern at the New York newspaper, Erin is denied a job after hearing of major lay-offs.

Living long-distance gets harder with expensive plane tickets and the trust factor is tested when Garrett meets Erin’s hunky co-worker and her uptight sister (Christina Applegate) shows her disapproval of Garrett.

Christina Applegate really strays from her usual loose, party-girl persona. In “Going the Distance,” she plays the anxious-mother role fairly well.

Luckily, this comedy maintains its laugh-out-loud expectations even with its practical depiction of an impossible relationship.

Garrett’s roommates, Dan (Charlie Day) and Box (Jason Sudeikis), sustain the humor throughout the entire film.

Dan is the weird and unknowingly emotional guy who sleeps in the room next to Garrett, always listening in on his conversations with Erin and playing loud, cheesy music to “DJ their hookup.”

Box has simply grown a mustache in hopes of attracting older women. And the facial hair pays off after crashing a 30-year high school reunion.

Erin’s brother-in-law, Phil (Jim Gaffigan), has some of the best lines in the movie, even though he only appears in a few scenes.

Gaffigan is unfortunately not seen enough in the film; however, the absence guarantees hilarity whenever his character gets the chance to speak.

Director Nanette Burstein does a nice job of splitting up the time between New York and San Francisco so that boredom isn’t an issue. She also strategically places comic relief in when the relationship faces the possibility of deteriorating.

“Going the Distance” proves to be an incessantly funny and crude story about trying to make what could be a great relationship work while being almost 3,000 miles apart. The whole time, one hopes for some sort of resolution to keep these two together, if there is one.