Like Crazy
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Alex Kingston, Jennifer Lawrence
Director: Drake Doremus
Fresh from Sundance success, Like Crazy hits Kiwi cinemas.
And it's for one for the romantics everywhere - and even for
those who may have forgotten a little how love feels.
Rising star Felicity Jones plays Anna, a British exchange student
in LA, who falls for Anton Yelchin's Jacob, a design student.
She spends the summer with him as the two form a heady and strong relationship - but when facing the prospect of her student visa running out, Anna decides to ignore the authorities and overstays.
When she heads back home for her sister's wedding and tries to return to Jacob, she's detained and sent back by immigration, forcing the duo to begin that most difficult of things - the long distance relationship.
But as they continue on this path and fighting to get the ban overturned, they face various obstacles - can the course of true love win the day?
Like Crazy is an angsty yearning kind of film which will make you recall the heady days of young love, where anything's possible, everyone's wrong and nothing will stand in your way of the one who has your heart.
Through great performances, there's a universal plausibility to this relationship which many will relate to and in Jones and Yelchin, a new poster couple for teen love. Jones in particular impresses and once again, demonstrates she's a stellar star on the rise.
Both manage to convey the pain of being apart well and the strains of a long distance relationship, as well as those pangs when you're separated from the one you love. With some added humour and some awkward moments, there's certainly all facets of love explored here.
However, after an hour of all the yearning, aching, angst and frustration, it feels like there's little else to explore and the characters follow a repetitive cycle of going back and forth, flitting between other loves and generally leading to a frustrating resolution.
Like Crazy will stir the romantic deep within you - it's guaranteed to become the new swoon favourite of some; but others will leave the film feeling a little unsatisfied at the relative lack of conclusion.
