Like Crazy Shows the Emotional Roller Coaster of Relationships well

Like Crazy (3 1/2 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Drake Doremus (Moonpie, Douchebag) 

Written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones

Starring: Antonn Telchin, Felicity Jones, and Jennifer Lawrence

Like Crazy Shows Shows the Emotional Roller Coaster of Relationship well.  The films makes the viewer feel as though they are along for the ride, you feel every thrill, drop, and jolt.  

Like Crazy is about Jacob (Yelchin) and Anna (Jones) who are two college students who meet and fall in love.  That is the simplistic breakdown.  Jacob is and American student and Anna is from England.  Anna writes Jacob a note telling him to call her; she leaves on the car.  The two meet for coffee and soon start to have this instant chemistry over things her writing and their mutual love for Paul Simon and his album Graceland.  As time passes and their love starts to grow Jacob asks the question while they are in bed under the covers "What happens when you have to go back?"  

Anna's quick response is to say let's live in the now, and not think about it.  The connection is clearly there and these two have intense feelings for one another.  Sometimes these feelings force them down the wrong paths.  When Anna is supposed to go hoe for the summer she decides to forgo the stipulations of Visa and stays in the country.  When she eventually tries to travel back England and then tries to come into the United States she is flagged and sent back home to England and not allowed to come back to America for an indefinite period of time.  Her expulsion from the States puts the first strain on the relationship and the film chronicles their experiences as they grow up, a part and try to remain to together.

Director and Writer Drake Doremus along with writer Ben York Jones capture the essential elements of youthful love.  The script and direction focus on each level of intimacy well.  As the relationship starts these act as though they are lovestruck teenagers who can avoid all of the pitfalls.  The problem is that they are responsible for their own split.  Anna and Jacob act as though being a part for two months will ruin them, but what they had not realized or forgot was that it was her Visa status that would jeopardize things.  The script sharply weaves how this couple forms such an intimate bond and through this intimate bond experience the joys and pain associated with love.  As these two explore other relationships and their lives a part the eternal connection appears to be there.

Yelchin and Jones have great chemistry.  They do this wonderful script justice, and make you feel every emotion with their strong performances.  While Yelchin is solid it's Jones that is the clear standout of this couple.  Jones hits it out of the park, she takes your breath away with her beautifully quiet performance.  There is a lot that can be said for the typical rom-coms and their female leads; she avoids the typical and shows the depth in her character.

The great part about this film is that like (500) Days of Summer, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sideways, and other romantic films with the same vein this film explores new depths of relationships.  Audiences are growing tired of the typical rom-com formula.  This film moves beyond the formulaic and is beautiful yet sad love story that is so real you feel as though you experienced the relationship.

Breakthrough Performer of March: Felicity Jones

While Like Crazy was released last year I did not get to watch it until today.   The film appears to be still something under the radar as well, but I have a feeling that this film will gain strong word of mouth and will become a popular film. One of the stars of the film is Felicity Jones Felicity Jones who plays Anna one of the co-leads.  While the film is about two young people struggling to get through the motions of their relationship Jones is the clear standout.

While I have seen other films Jones has done like Cheri (2009) and Brideshead Revisited (2008) none of her work has made her stand out quite like this film.  In Like Crazy her role as Anna is incredibly compelling.  The film shows Anna through different stages from her time as a student in a class to being a mature woman and journalist in England trying to balance her relationship with Jacob (Anton Yelchin) who lives in the L.A..  Jones portrayal of Anna is heartbreaking; she loves Jacob so much she decides to stay in the States even though her Visa would not allow it.  When she attempts to travel again she is prevented from coming back to America and exiled back to the UK which puts an incredible strain on their relationship.  This relationship cuts at true raw emotion, and there are moment where you get lost in Jones performance unlike any performance.  Picking one moment is almost impossible, but one that resignates with me was when she tries to date someone else and he buys her a chair to replace the one from Jacob her face says that her love with Jacob is not over.  As the film draws to an end you feel a complete emotional journey for these two people.


Felicity Jones won the Breakthrough Performer at Gotham and the National Board of Review awards and she also won a Special Grand Jury Prize for acting at Sundance.  This girl has incredible career ahead of her.  While most of her work has been in television doing things for Masterpiece, and mini-series The Diary of Anne Frank (2009).  Jones has also starred in The Tempest opposite Helen Mirren (2010).  This performance is going to launch her into stardom.  This year she has two films set to be released, Cheerful Weather for a Wedding opposite Elizabth McGovern about a girl who gets cold feet about her wedding.  The second film has yet to  be given a title, but she will working the director from Like Crazy, Drake Doremus.  Look for that film to be another major vehicle for her.  I think she will also get a lot of attention for the 2013 film directed by Ralph Fiennes entitle The Invisible Woman, which is about Charles Dickens mistress; she plays the mistress.

This girl has talent and her role in Like Crazy will likely be a terrific launch for a wonderful career.