Like Crazy (2011)
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011Like Crazy (USA) Directed by Drake Doremus Written by Drake Doremus; Ben York Jones Starring Felicity Jones; Anton Yelchin; Jennifer Lawrence; Alex Kingston; Oliver Muirhead; Charlie Brewerly
In three years, twenty eight year old director/co-writer Doremus has somehow made three feature films, including his latest, Like Crazy, which won the grand jury prize at the 2011 Sundance film festival.
Like Crazy is an intimate portrait of young love, and the two leads, Anton Yelchin as Jacob, and Brit Felicity Jones as Anna, give truthful, open performances in a spare story that manages to refrain from devolving into soap, sap, or simplicity. While the plot is hardly perfect, with a major device that does not always feel entirely organic, and a few details that seem a bit convenient or writerly (the complete omission of any of Jacob’s friends or family; the lack of reference to his affording a cool loft and work space; Anna’s quick professional ascension in a difficult industry; Jacob’s obvious ability to move to London at any time), any failings are ultimately redeemed by a fittingly downplayed tone, with emotion arising out of small, improvisational feeling moments as opposed to big, arching scenes full of angst.
Shooting on the DSLR Canon 7D, Doremus relies heavily on jump cuts, still photography, and odd angles to create a series of prettily composed montages demonstrating time pass. While an over reliance on montage almost always signals a less then fully fleshed out plot/script, here the device actually manages not to seem overly stale, and keenly captures elements of the exhilaration of burgeoning love without coming off as excessively cloying or manipulative (cliched shots of bumper cars and the Santa Monica Pier notwithstanding).
Jacob, a somewhat stoic/reserved, curly haired furniture design major, and Anna, a pretty, sensitive, super eloquent English major meet in their senior year and begin a love affair that forms the basis for the film. The two are are initially happy, immersed in the rapture of newly being together, but Anna’s forced looming departure, and subsequent visa issues throw a monkey wrench into their bliss. The film documents their attempts at navigating a long distance relationship as they begin their careers in cities on opposite sides of the Ocean.
The devil is in the details and it is here that Doremus and company should be applauded. The design and visuals are top notch, utilizing the lightweight, portable camera to give urgency to the exterior shots, and getting the look of the interior spaces just right. We are throughout treated to some wonderfully tender cinematic moments, lit with care, and feeling fully workshopped and fresh - looks, gestures, sighs, and touches between two people in the hypnotic throes of what one can only assume is first love for them both.
In the way that this time of life is confusing and mysterious for most, we as audience are not allowed all the biographical details about either Jacob or Anna, and they continuously struggle to get across to one another the strength (though at times complicated nature) of their feelings, choosing gestures, notes, texts, and gifts to express what cannot always be adequately verbalized. The longing ache of attachment that borders tentatively on obsession is evocatively portrayed (differently for each character) through a roller coaster of connections, separations, and re-connections that have an audience unsure of how it will all resolve.
While the stakes are relatively small - simply the love and future of two likable, attractive young people, this very smallness winds up a strength. Where obstacles are usually presented in films of the type - disapproving parents, infidelity, disease - here the couple faces a selection of more ordinary, messy difficulties. Yes, there is the ever present construct of the visa issue, but time, distance, youth, jealousy, and the subsequent natural slipping away of what was once firmly in their grasp, namely that precious commodity of true romantic love, combine to add up to what mostly feels reminiscent of real life couplings, and the confusion, fear, and desperation their love brings about are all touchingly portrayed.
Like Crazy includes nice supporting turns from the lovely Jennifer Lawrence as Sam (who gets much accomplished with little dialogue); Charlie Brewerly as Simon; Finola Hughes as Liz; and Alex Kingston and Oliver Muirhead as Anna’s parents, but the film naturally resides in the moments between Jones (an actress to watch) and Yelchin. Based on (or inspired by) Doremus’ real life relationship with his ex wife, comparison to films like 500 Hundred Days of Summer; Before Sunrise/Sunset; and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are not unwarranted. A knowing, sensitive look at first love that will ring true for all who, for better or worse, have been there.












