Dir: Jonathan Levine. Cast: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen, Bob Odenkirk, Lisa Kudrow, Andy Serkis, O’Shea Jackson Jnr, Alexander Skarsgård, June Diane Raphael, Randall Park. 15 cert, 125 mins

Star-driven love stories are a rare enough commodity on screen these days that Long Shot feels like a throwback – specifically, to the kind of Cupid-strikes romcom that was far more popular a generation ago. Jonathan Levine’s film indulges itself with a soundtrack cue from Pretty Woman – Roxette’s irresistible chart-topper It Must Have Been Love – and hopes to fly as an odd-couple piece in that tradition, pitching Charlize Theron as a fiercely unattainable US Presidential candidate just waiting to have her heart melted by Seth Rogen, as the shambolic journalist she used to babysit.

At 16 and 13 respectively, these two shared a kiss, but they came a long way into adulthood before the stars aligned to reunite them; it happens just as Rogen’s Fred Flarsky, who writes ranting blogs for a leftist Brooklyn rag called The Advocate, is made unemployed in a boo-hiss corporate takeover.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Field (Theron) is a regally accomplished but secretly lonely Secretary of State, who’s poised to go for the top job but needs a little help in the humour and relatability departments. She has the brainwave of bringing Fred aboard her campaign to punch up her speeches.