Movie Review: 'Like Crazy'

As a self-confessed lover of all things romance, I can admit the flaws that often plague the genre. The cheesiness. the artificiality. The melodrama. But above all, the lack of realism. That's not to say that true love doesn't exist, but unfortunately, love in the real world is not a live re-enactment of "The Notebook". As satisfying as those 'give the audience the fluff they want' romance movies are, they don't capture what it really feels like to fall in love. They display acts of romantic heroism and grand gestures, but often forget about the small, seemingly insignificant ones that lead us to fall in love with another person. That's what single-handedly sets Like Crazy apart from the vast majority of films in its genre. It chooses to put plot (and even character development, to some degree) in the backseat to focus almost entirely on emotion and chemistry. It's like a collection of snapshots that feel way too intimate, too personal for us to be viewing...which of course just makes it all the more alluring.

Felicity Jones gives a star-making performance as Anna, a British foreign exchange student who falls in love with American classmate Jacob (Anton Yelchin). With one hasty, foolish decision, Anna decides to overstay her visa to spend the entire summer with Jacob in L.A. Upon trying to re-enter the U.S. after a small trip back home, that visa trouble comes back to haunt her, and thus Jacob and Anna and thrown into a long-distance relationship.

This is a film with very little dialogue overall, one that never denies itself the chance to breathe with ample moments of silence. The welcoming of quiet, contemplative moments probably has something to do with the fact that the actors had no set script to work with and improvised most of the dialogue themselves; and surprisingly, it works like a charm. Anyone who has ever been in a long distance relationship will be able to relate to those small, creeping doubts that get through the cracks of a loving relationship and just fester there. An ignored text. The crushing loneliness. Should we see other people when we're not together? What sacrifices are we willing to make to finally be together? It's all here, and it's utterly heart-wrenching to watch.


Jones' power lies in her ability to get one heartbreaking look to communicate a million times more than any words possibly could. While I never felt like I got to know much more about Anna and Jacob beyond the fact that she's an aspiring writer and he's a furniture maker, it was the decisions these characters made, and the way they separately dealt with their emotions, that really defined these characters for me. Director Drake Doremus has crafted a film that transcends words and the typical story structure; he wants you to emotional bind yourself to every word, every look, every smile. Remember your first love. The honeymoon period you desperately clung to. The naivety. The heartache. The emotional roller coaster ride of it all. And for an hour and a half, Like Crazy allowed me to re-experience that on some level. What more can you ask of a film about love?

Rating: A-