Opening today is the new Drew Barrymore/Justin Long romantic comedy, Going the Distance, about a bi-coastal couple (she’s based in San Fran, he’s in NYC) who try and make a go of a long-distance relationship despite the odds.

Buffalo-born director Nanette Burstein’s film has many salient details that set it apart from the standard genre piece. For one thing, both Barrymore’s Erin and Long’s Garrett work in once-thriving, now-famously-dying industries (newspaper and record company, respectively) which seriously complicates relocation plans since neither can land another job.

Also, Erin and Garrett’s dialog is swift and snappy and rings true throughout the film, especially in matters of sex.  While both characters boast the proverbial smart-mouthed sidekicks – Erin’s cynical sister (Christina Applegate) and Garrett’s best buds (Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) - the film really belongs to the leads, who were real-life lovers during its making. The natural chemistry shows.

Hollywood North sat down with director Burstein in Toronto recently to discuss this most unusual romantic comedy and how a documentary filmmaker with a serious pedigree ended up directing a fabled love story.

Hollywood North: When you were researching this film, did you take any cues from the modern dating scene?

Nanette Burstein: I have a lot of friends with very busy lives all over the places so they end up online dating or being involved in long-distance relationships. I myself have had long-distance relationships, so I think it’s so relate-able that the film just came from life experience.

HN: Even though this is a romantic comedy, it seems to come largely from the guy’s point of view.

NB: The intention was to represent both points of view. The character of Erin has her sister [as a sounding board] and Garrett has his guy friends and the film has two equal main characters. However, I would say that Garrett's character probably makes the biggest change; his is the biggest arc in the story, so maybe it is weighted a little more towards him.

HN: Drew Barrymore seems cast against type as the salty, outspoken Erin.

NB: It's interesting because Drew has always gravitated more towards the sort of fairytale romantic comedies and she's been great in those because she has this natural charisma. But I think the real Drew Barrymore at this age (35 off-screen, 31 in this character) is related more to this kind of character because it's a very honest depiction of how one talks about sex and how one curses at times and how one falls in love and try and figure it.

HN: Drew Barrymore and Justin Long were a real-life couple when this film was being made. What impact did that have on the set?

NB: Positive I think because they were very comfortable with each other and had great natural chemistry that you can really see on the screen.

HN: You have been quite successful as a documentary filmmaker (see the terrific Robert Evans biopic, The Kid Stays in the Picture)… why move to the so-called dark side with feature films?

NB: The film industry in the States has changed dramatically in the last few years and there are very few art-house distributors. It's very tough to get any kind of independent film made, especially non-fiction. Plus they're not really programmed very well on television, so in fact it's actually a very hard time to be a documentary filmmaker and actually make a living doing it. Or to get money to make the films or to have people see them. Plus I always wanted to make fiction films. I always wanted to do both - that was always a goal of mine. So this seemed like a good time.