Film Review: Like Crazy

A YOUNG couple are forced to endure a lengthy immigration battle in this refreshing, award-winning, take on a romantic drama.

Like Crazy (WEB)

Cert. 12A

3.5/5 stars

AFTER meeting furniture designer Jacob (Anton Yelchin) while studying abroad in L.A, aspiring writer, Anna (Felicity Jones) decides to outstay her visa in order to spend the summer with him.

The couple try to make a life together in the U.S after graduation, but Anna is refused entry to the country after a brief trip home to England, forcing the young lovers to endure a lengthy immigration battle.

Writers Ben York Jones and Drake Doremus had only ever penned comedy shorts before Like Crazy, and experimented by providing their cast with just a script outline from which to improvise most of the dialogue.

The result is an interesting departure from what you’d expect of a romantic film about young love and it definitely lends an air of superiority to what is likely to be dismissed by some as a slushy rom-com.

I failed to connect with Anna and think British audiences will find it hard to sympathise with the plight of such an affluent, entitled heroine.

Jacob, on the other hand, is a perfectly-cast mixture of an old-school romantic hero and a sensitive modern man, not too gorgeous so as to seem unattainable, but magnetising in his own way.

Like Crazy refuses to comply with Hollywood conventions, attributing both protagonists with disagreeable flaws and failing to close with the customary happy ending, in fact, failing to close in the traditional sense at all.

A refreshing take on a well-worn cinematic model and showcasing two great up-and-coming talents.

The judges at Sundance Film Festival agreed, bestowing the director with The Grand Jury Prize.

AW