Photo Source: Wikipedia

Directed by: Drake Doremus


Cast: Anton Yelchin (1), Felicity Jones (2), Jennifer Lawrence (3), and Charlie Bewley (4)

My favourite quote – 
“I don’t feel like I’m a part of your life. I feel like I’m on vacation.”

Did you know? – The film won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize in 2011 and the film was shot using the Canon EOS 7D. The film’s dialogue was also fully improvised.

Long distance relationships. Some people can survive the distance, some can’t. Like Crazy is a very slow moving film. It takes patience, and interest in the subject matter, or in film, to be able to sit through the film from start to finish. However, I have a nagging suspicion that the slow pace of the film was done on purpose. So that the viewer can experience for themselves the frustration the characters in the film felt. All that waiting to see each other again. All that trying to make things work.

I connect with the film because it reminds me of the last relationship I had. And I can empathize with whatever the leads Jacob and Anna, beautifully played by Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, are feeling and going through. It isn’t easy. It takes a huge toll on the relationship and it is very tough the two people trying to make a long distance relationship work. Trust, communication, understanding, a lot of compromise is needed to sustain a long distance relationship. Something I think Like Crazy very aptly portrays.

I actually picked up this film more because of its cast rather than the subject matter. I was pretty impressed with Anton Yelchin in Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, as well as in New York, I Love You, so I took a leap of faith and started to get the films he acted in. And I wasn’t disappointed. Although I found it jarring to watch him as an adult going through the heartaches of a long distance relationship, I still could connect with his character because of his realistic and heartbreaking performance in the film. Where did the fresh faced 17 year old Chekov from Star Trek go?

The other lead Felicity Jones I only noticed recently after watching the film Chalet Girl. I am still curious about her and haven’t seen her in many films. This is just the second. However, so far, I like her performances. In this film, I am able to see more depth in her performance as Anna. I think being cast alongside such a fantastic actor as Anton Yelchin, she doesn’t shine as bright. But still, she’s one I would look out for in the future.

I didn’t know X-Men: First Class’ Jennifer Lawrence was in this film until I saw her in it. And although it was a small part, I enjoyed watching her in the film. I’d have to get my hands on The Hunger Games and Winter’s Bone soon.

At the start of Like Crazy, I really didn’t know what to expect. And now, having watched it. I have no regrets. It is like watching a part of my life being acted by others on the big screen. To those who have never been in a long distance relationship, be an observer to this quiet but meaningful film. Relationships are hard work, whether two people are on the same continent or not. But ultimately, if you really love one another, you’ll find a way to make it work. You might make mistakes, meet other people, but at the end of the day, you’ll find your way back to each other.

The film leaves the viewer a little unsure about the future of Jacob and Anna, but that’s just it isn’t it? Even if the film gave us a happily ever after, if this was real life, after the credits have finished rolling, something bad might happen and they might end up breaking up anyway. All that Jacob and Anna has gone through, if the film did not portray them the way they did, then it would be unrealistic and the typical Hollywood film that gives in to the demand of the happily-ever-after-ending.

(1) Anton Yelchin has acted in films like Along Came A Spider (2001), Hearts In Atlantis (2001), Charlie Bartlett (2007), New York, I Love You (2009), Star Trek (2009), Terminator Salvation (2009), Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac (2010), Fright Night (2011), Movie 43 (2013), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), Cymbeline (2015), Experimenter (2015), and The Driftless Area (2015). He also voiced Clumsy Smurf in the film The Smurfs (2011) and appeared in television series like ER, The Practice, Without a Trace, NYPD Blue, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Criminal Minds.

(2) Felicity Jones has acted in films like Brideshead Revisited (2008), Chéri (2009), Hysteria (2011), Chalet Girl (2011), The Invisible Woman (2013), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), The Theory of Everything (2014), True Story (2015), Autobahn (2015), and Inferno (2016).

(3) Jennifer Lawrence has acted in films like Winter’s Bone (2010), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Hunger Games (2012), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), American Hustle (2013), X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014), Serena (2014), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), Joy (2015), and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

(4) Charlie Bewley has acted in films like The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011), and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012). He’s also appeared in televisions series like The Vampire Diaries and Nashville.

Final Thoughts:

Like Crazy makes me remember the times when I was in a long distance relationship. While the ending of my story is different, I connected with the film nonetheless. It makes me sad, it makes me nostalgic, but its okay. Because I know this feeling will pass eventually. (3 of 5)

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