Attempting to shed light on intimate moments in a relationship, Like Crazy details the cross-Atlantic relationship between Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and Anna (Felicity Jones). Meeting at college in Los Angeles, Jacob and Anna hit it off well rather instantly. Deciding to overstay her student visa, Anna has trouble getting back into the country after going home to the UK for a wedding. This results in several years going by and a couple of visits by Jacob in London. Though the two fall into other relationships with Sam (Jennifer Lawrence) and Simon (Charlie Bewley), something strong and palpable lingers and they keep going back to each other.
So much of the screen time is dedicated to the smaller moments within relationships. Yelchin and Jones spend much of the film hugging, kissing and staring aimlessly into the others eyes. While the focus on intimacy begins as interesting, it looses momentum with Anna bordering on annoying rather than endearing. Jones clearly has talent, but unfortunately it is rather squandered in this film. Yelchin is fine and puts in the hard yards, but no miraculous love story really results. What remains is a drawn out, back and forth, series of repetitive shots.
Writer and director Drake Doremus, along with co-writer Ben York Jones are unable to sustain the film’s interest. Beyond the ambitious love story that failed to connect were moments of interest in regards to the career ascension of Anna’s professional life. Slowly rising from assistant to a magazine editor (Finola Hughes) to junior editor, a moment existed where it seemed Anna would have to choose between her successful career and her intense love story with Jacob. However, this moment flew passed, and instead we were left with the same old dribble.
Anna’s parents add some life into the banal script, due to the acting talents of Alex Kingston and Oliver Muirhead. Jennifer Lawrence also has a nice moment on a couch with Yelchin, making her small amount of screen time very noticeable.
Like Crazy is not the same story we see time and time again, but it’s not particularly interesting either and comes off as a poor man’s Blue Valentine. While we’re meant to hope that the two protagonists end up together, they instead seem terribly more interesting when they are apart.
Like Crazy is theatrically released in Australia on March 1st through Paramount Pictures.
