Movie Review by
Matilda Davidson
Like Crazy (Drake Doremus)
Staring: Anton Yelchin and
Felicity Jones.
Winner of the Grand Prize Jury for a dramatic film at this
year’s Sundance film festival, Like Crazy
is the story of star-crossed lovers Jacob and Anna as they struggle with a
difficult and frustrating long-distance relationship over the course of many
years. Though the older set has now deemed Like
Crazy as a ‘chronicle of the struggles of young love’, the film seemed more
determined to manipulate girls into donning British accents and writing bad
poetry for a taste of unrequited love.
The film stars Jacob (Anton Yelchin), an LA native with a
passion for chair building and Anna (Felicity Jones), a brooding poet from
across the pond. They meet in their final year of university and fall so madly
in love that by the end of the semester they decide to violate Anna’s student
visa for two more whirlwind months together. But come September the joke’s on
them when Anna travels briefly to England for family matters and after arriving
back in Los Angeles, is seized by airport immigration officials and sent back
to England. After months of being apart the two decide that the only solution
while Anna awaits her traveling privileges is to move on with their lives.
Upon making this decision Jacob quickly becomes a
chair-prodigy of sorts managing his own very successful design business.
Likewise, Anna, in even less time, is promoted to junior editor of an
unspecified British magazine and becomes equally successful. But at this point
in the film there seemed to be still at least an hour to go which made it clear
that unfortunately, these two wouldn’t suffer apart for long.
The rest of the film is certainly nothing to write home
about. By the climax, which I assume is the billionth time they decide to get
back together and have yet another
romantic airport scene, you’re really just sick of these two and all their
romantic escapades.
In an interview with Felicity Jones shortly after the
release of the film, it was revealed that all the dialogue had been improvised
throughout the film. Initially after hearing this I was left with a certain
amount of respect towards the actors. But while watching the film it only
really brought light to the numerous silent moments (cue Yelchin and Jones to
stare longingly into each other’s eyes) and the fact the rest of the movie was
nothing but a huge schmooze fest.
So with improvised dialogue, a relatively low budget and
having all been shot on the inexpensive Cannon EOS 7D DSLR, it would be safe to
call this an unconventional film. But it’s simple enough to understand why the
director chose to do things this way.
All these elements come together in a way that is meant to
make the film seem as close to real life as possible, capturing the awkward
silences and the messy, less articulate moments through the eyes of two young
people. At times the movie can feel like an immersive experience and you’ll
consider embracing the slightly irresistible storyline. But ultimately the qualms
you build towards these two characters keeps you from fully enjoying it.
And knowing that it’s loosely based on the director’s own
experiences with his ex-wife doesn’t really help. The film now seems more like
some narcissistic ploy to get revenge on an ex-lover than a story for the ages.
Without spoiling the ending, I’ll say that Like Crazy does nothing but paint one
horribly bleak and slightly nihilistic picture of love in our day and age where
the most exciting and impulsive decisions almost constantly end in tragedy and
dissatisfaction.
êê/5
Matilda Davidson, 16
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