GEORGE CLOONEY'S THE AMERICAN - A "LABOUR" DAY OF LOVE AT BOX OFFICE

The American

George Clooney's The American from Focus Features opened at the top of the Box Office in its first week of release, with an tepid estimate of $16.5 million from 2,823 theatres.    These numbers are based on a four-day Labour Day weekend according to Deadline; final tally will be released Tuesday.  Yet again, it is a neck-in-neck finish for a second week in a row with Takers edging out The Last Exorcism last week only by a hair.  The reviews for the Clooney film have been passably positive for the film 61% at Rotten Tomatoes) which opened oddly on a Wednesday.

Robert Rodriguez's Machete starring Jessica Alba is projected to bring in $14.7 million over four days, which is uncharacteristically low. The reviews however, have been positive for the Fox film with Rotten Tomatoes rating it a consensus of 71%.

Last weekend's champion Takers slips to third this weekend with $14.5 million, just ahead of The Last Exorcism again; the latter brought in $10 million earning $34.8 million to date.  Warner Bros.' Going the Distance starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long brought in $8.5 million from 3,030 theatres - clearly a flop.

DREW BARRYMORE AND JUSTIN LONG CHAT ON SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF BLACK BOOK MAGAZINE

"I was, thank you for asking. As far as I understand, it was removed from the film for the same reason they censored that infamous South Park episode earlier this year: apparently my penis bears too striking a resemblance to the Prophet Muhammad. Anwar al-Awlaki just called for the execution of anyone who would defame or desecrate the image of Prophet Muhammad. I can come up with a different answer if you think he’s going to be reading this, though I don’t mean it to be insulting. Quite the opposite—I think my penis is fairly handsome!". - Justin Long

Drew Barrymore chats with boyfriend/co-star Justin Long in the September issue of Black Book Magazine about filming their new movie Going the Distance together.  In the above quote, Long jokes with Barrymore about a frontal nude scene cut from the movie. The article by Nick Haramis features photos of the couple taken from each other's Cell Phones.  How cute. 

Read the article in full here.  And although I didn't love the movie which  is out next week, you can read my review of it here.

(Photo credit: Justin Long/Black Book Magazine)

GOING THE DISTANCE REVIEW

Going the Distance travels to a territory not often visited in Romantic Comedies: Long Distance Love in this age of Text Messaging and Webcams. Erin (Drew Barrymore) is an aspiring Journalist temporarily in New York City, where she meets an A&R Representative Garrett (Justin Long) on an off-chance at a Bar one night.

Garrett is just coming out of a relationship and soon before he knows it, he's falling for Erin as the sparks fly between them right away. There's only one catch though - Erin must head off to San Francisco for school shortly after completing her Internship. The two decide to try out a Long Distance Relationship regardless off the odds being stacked against them, and the story touches upon the realities and pitfalls of lovers being apart from one another, even with todays' Technologies.

Despite their off-screen romance, Long and Barrymore seem to lack that spark for much of the movie,  in order to have us root for them. Part way through the film, we begin to wonder why they even bother fighting for their relationship without a solid enough foundation. And although I do love Barrymore, she was miscast here, struggling to be convincingly evoke that level of vulnerability required of Erin.  Instead, she comes off perhaps too self-assured for a girl who really spends most of the film not knowing what she really wants in life - career or relationship?