“Going the Distance” is a new romantic company starring real life couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. Charlie Day (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), Christina Applegate (“Samantha Who”), Jason Sudeikis (“30 Rock”), Jim Gaffigan (“My Boys”), Kelli Garner (“Lars and the Real Girl”) and Ron Livingston (“Office Space”) round out the cast, supplying comedic chops and timing to what could have been a predictable and flat story. But isn’t.

Directed by Nanette Burstein (“American Teen”) and written by Geoff La Tulippe (first IMDB credit), the film begins the day Erin (Barrymore) needs to diffuse the stress of interning and Garrett’s (Long) girlfriend breaks up with him. The two end up at the same bar and meet over an Atari game. Garrett immediately introduces Erin to his fiends Dan (Day) and Box (Sudeikis) and from the get go, the chemistry and witty banter between the two becomes evident to everyone.

But there’s a glitch – Erin is only in New York City for the summer and after she completes her newspaper internship, she plans to head back to San Francisco, where, while earning her masters, she lives with her sister Corrine (Applegate), brother-in-law Phil (Gaffigan) and niece Maya (Taylor Schwencke). Both Erin and Garrett agree that for six weeks they will enjoy each other’s company, have fun and keep things light. Of course, by the time he takes her to the airport, the two realize they’re in love, so the plan is to retain a modern long distance relationship.

The rest of the film focuses on Erin’s and Garrett’s struggles to keep the spark and commitment alive with so much geographical uncertainty and distance between them. Garrett works in the music business; Erin wants to write for a paper and neither industry looks promising in this economy. But the two keep trying and, via texting, Skype and phone sex do what they can to stay together, even with no guarantees about their future–professional or otherwise.

“Going the Distance” could have fallen into the romantic comedy abyss that the past decade of cinema has force-fed down audiences’ throats. With the exception of Judd Apatow’s man-child dramedies, the last quality film in this genre was 2003’s “Love Actually.” Since then, this category has done a fantastic job of flattening and dumbing down female lead characters into beautiful but desperate lost souls agreeing to pay for escorts and sperm.

Between the sharp, fast, and in the moment dialogue and Barrymore’s constant ability to be so present and real on screen – she has that rare combination of classic beauty, genuine warmth and, to boot, razor-sharp edge – the movie keeps you interested, laughing and most importantly, rooting for the couple, without one degree of over-simplified sentimentality.

“Going the Distance” brings back the smart romantic comedy and, hopefully, inspires Hollywood studios to do the same.

DIRECTOR: Nanette Burstein SCREENWRITER: Geoff La Tulippe CAST: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Christina Applegate, Jim Gaffigan MPAA RATING: R