Review by Gareth James
Stars Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlie Bewley, Alex Kingston, Oliver Muirhead, Finola Hughes, Chris Messina, Ben York Jones, Jamie Thomas King
Written by Drake Doremus & Ben York Jones
Certification UK 12A | US PG-13
Runtime 90 minutes
Directed by Drake Doremus
Slight but engaging, Like Crazy overcomes some early problems to produce an effectively lo-fi romantic drama. Largely improvised, it follows early twenty-somethings Jacob (Yelchin) and Anna (Jones) through a transatlantic relationship upset by visa difficulties. Studying in Los Angeles, the British Anna breaks her visa to stay with aspiring furniture designer Jacob, leading to a pained series of separations and reconciliations in London and Santa Monica as she is refused re-entry to the US. With both fighting to build their careers, the following few years see them attempt to remain faithful and continue their relationship.
Like Crazy is built from Doremus’s super-low budget independents Spooner (2009) and Douchebag (2010), and was picked up by Paramount Vantage after winning the the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2011. Its appeal primarily rests on Yelchin and Jones’ chemistry, and a slow-burn pathos that builds out of its reliance on muddled, intermittently annoying and charming dialogue and situations. While similar in style to recent American Mumblecore trends for low-budget improvisation, digital camera-shooting and the anxieties of young romance, Like Crazy is softer in tone than post-college dramas like Andrew Bujalski’s Mutual Appreciation (2005).
Although not as cloying as Nicholas Jasenovec and Michael Cera’s recent romantic documentary Paper Hearts (2009), Like Crazy’s first twenty minutes or so is dominated by whimsical dialogue and cute acts of love, from Anna producing a relationship diary to Jacob making a chair for her to write on. Where Doremus succeeds though is in twisting this early cuteness around to juxtapose a gradual movement of the characters’ into the anxieties of adult life, and an increasingly nostalgic perspective on their early relationship.
The result is far from grim, and at times it is difficult to feel sympathy for Anna and Jacob’s childish decisions. However, Doremus does build towards moments of understated emotional depth, while acknowledging the relationship’s difficult effect on friends, family and career aspirations. Although lacking some of the sharper insights into relationships of recent independent successes like Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine (2010), Like Crazy remains a promising and at-times powerful breakthrough film for Doremus.