I readily admit that movies about first love and young couples have some weird magnetic attraction for me. But I have had enough of formulaic romantic comedies. Luckily, Like Crazy, the new indie romance filled with hip young characters, interesting camera angles, and a flawless soundtrack, provides a realistic look at how messy falling in love for the first time can really be.
Like Crazy (as in, I love you like crazy, miss you like crazy, want you like crazy) focuses on the relationship between two college seniors, one American and one British. The film opens with Anna (Felicity Jones) presenting a paper about the rise of MySpace while exchanging looks with Jacob (Anton Yelchin, Star Trek). Then, Anna leaves Jacob a love letter on the windshield of his dashboard. The audience watches them go on their first date and eventually fall in love as they discuss their shared love for Paul Simon, drink whiskey in her room, visit the beach, and have dinner with her parents. One of the most tender moments is when Jacob, who is studying furniture design, gives Anna his first piece of work: a chair with “like crazy” engraved on the inside of a leg. Similarly, Anna (an aspiring journalist) reads Jacob some of her writing.
This idyllic bubble is burst by real life. Anna overstays her student visa to spend the summer with Jacob. After a one-week visit to her parents in England, she can’t reenter the country to be with him. The film’s main problem is the character’s frustrating naïveté about the situation. Post 9/11, it should come as no surprise that Anna would no longer be able to enter the country. She is sent back to England, and so begins the attempt to hang on to those first months of happiness, even as their lives veer further and further away from each other.
Although the long-distance, trying-to-make-it-work plot may initially seem contrived and overdone, this movie is tremendously different than other films struggling with the same concept. It is not a romantic comedy. It is not a romantic drama, or a romantic thriller. It introduces a new genre of refreshing, modern, romantic films.
The subtly crafted scenes following Jacob and Anna as they create a love that is made believable by the fact that Yelchin and Jones improvised most of the film. The first third of the movie arguably carries the last two-thirds. If you miss the beginning, you may not be fazed by the trials and tribulations the two inevitably must face. Director Drake Doremus makes you care within the first few minutes of the film without even the promise of a plot. Anna is intelligent, well-dressed, and British, while Jacob is American, witty, and quietly loyal. Actors in smaller roles shine as well: Jennifer Lawrence and Oliver Muirhead are wonderful as Jacob’s other love interest and Anna’s father, respectively.
Throughout the film, there is surprisingly little dialogue and most of the emotions are conveyed with looks, body language, and the work of the cameraman. By skipping between different moments, the film forces you to fill in the blanks with personal experiences, a tactic that draws the viewer in even further. The camera angles are soft, eager, and personal. The music does exactly what a soundtrack should: add to the scene without distracting from the moment.
A refreshing anti-romantic comedy, “Like Crazy” will remind older audiences what it was like to fall in love for the first time and show younger viewers what they (hopefully) have to look forward to. The film opened in theaters on Oct. 28. and is still playing in select locations.
For fans of: Blue Valentine, (500) Days of Summer.