Like Crazy - Review

LIKE CRAZY


12A

2011

Directed by Drake Doremus

Starring Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence


Like Crazy tells the story of a British college student who falls in love with an American classmate. They are then separated when she is banned from the US after overstaying her visa in order to stay with him. A long distance relationship ensues…

It’s not that this film is bad (on the contrary there are many lovely aspects of it), but it’s just not particularly good. Independent romance films aren’t boring; you only need to look at Blue Valentine to see how it’s done well, but Like Crazy is slightly bland. Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin are fine actors, but this leading role where they take up the majority of the movie is too large a feat. The characters themselves are not striking and they are never actually introduced so it’s hard to form an audience relationship with them. All it takes is the arrival of Jennifer Lawrence’s character to show how much of a difference an actor with a bit more charisma and presence can make to the film, it is better after she’s introduced.

The photography and the editing are absolutely beautiful; there’s a naturalistic quality about the way the movie is shot which is refreshing and charming. But the fact still remains that this is a very slow film, which is ironically only 90 minutes long.

It’s a simple romance and an ancient dilemma, but sadly this film never gets chance to really sing.

Rating: 3


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