À la folie

This film was beautiful. I saw it at the Sundance Film Festival and fell in love with it Like Crazy. Everything from the acting, to the cinematography, to the story line was amazing. And to think it was shot on the Canon 7D is incredible. I saw 14 films at Sundance and this was my favorite film in the festival. During the Q&A after the film the director made it clear that this film is about the true story of his own relationship with a girl. I would recommend this film to people who have experienced a long distant relationship and to teenage/young adult audiences. This film is the Winner of the U.S. Dramatic Competition Grand Jury Prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. I think it deserved this prize. This film made me feel all sorts of different emotions. This film really is a beautiful story and I am excited to see it coming out in theaters.

Just saw it at the Sundance Film Festival here in Park City, Utah.'Like Crazy' is a love story about the ups and the downs, the euphoria, the heartache, and the sacrifices. For those who don't know the plot, basically a British student, Anna, falls for Jacob, an American student. They fall for each other right away, and spend the summer together. However, she violates the stay of her student visa, and when she tries to return to L.A., she is denied. Thus, our two lovers are separated by distance and multiple levels of bureaucracy that prove to be most unfair. Can they make it work, and should they? Some have compared it to '500 Days of Summer,' and there are a few similarities. The major difference is the lack of any unique narrative devices and that it is, in fact, a love story. First and foremost, let me say that Felicity Jones as Anna is a revelation. She owns the screen and was utterly charming and devastatingly beautiful. There's a scene in the first 10 minutes after they spend their first evening together, and they sit on her bed, and a sense of tension but young awkwardness that fills the room. When the conversation falters out, she gives him a look that was filled with such delicate longing; fueled by the power of young love and the possibilities before them. It was in this moment that Anna, and Felicity, won me over. The chemistry between her and her co-star Anton was realistic and powerful. Much of the film was improvised; the director said he would often leave the camera rolling for twenty to thirty minutes at a time just to capture them together. It shows. I felt myself hoping and wishing for them to work it all out, to end up together.

The music is fantastic. It provides the heartbeat to the film and is a wonderful compliment. It's well edited - the film ultimately takes place over what seems to be a couple of years. Unlike early versions of the film, title cards have been removed and a series of jump cuts progresses the time. You have to pay close attention at times to have a firm grasp on the passage of time. There are moments when they are happy and together that are so iconic. Walking the streets of London, at times they looked like the cover of a Bob Dylan cover. Quick cuts of them together whether in LA or London are quite beautiful.

This film was obviously made based on real experiences, and the filmmakers admitted that it was the combination of many of their experiences. It's a realistic film. Things aren't easy. You will smile and laugh and other times feel just as much despair as our characters. There are no easy answers in this film, and your ultimate interpretation and perhaps enjoyment of the film depends on what you bring to the table, and your feelings on love, and just how much you believe in it. This film should make Felicity Jones a star in the way that 'An Education' benefited Carey Mulligan.

Don't let it's indie roots fool you. Like Crazy is a nostalgic love story of people who know what they want but don't know how to get it.

The acting is superb. Yelchin and Jones have chemistry and they play it across the board. You will smile, laugh, cry, and hold your breath as these two characters waltz in and out of each others' lives. Jennifer Lawrence and Charlie Bewley also deliver great performances.

The thing that sets Like Crazy apart is the fact that it doesn't try to be anything than an honest love story. It doesn't play up stereotypes. It doesn't beat out the indie clichés. The dialogue is naturally paced and feels richly authentic. The subtext is dramatic.

This film is worth every dollar and dime in my mind. If you get the chance, go see it. Take friends who want to share the fun of a good film.

Like Crazy is a fantastic watch and a fresh take on everything you thought you knew about indie romance.

I was checking out the storyline when I just realized this movie was the story of my life...almost! But it surprised me very positively.

I was also married to an American citizen just out of College and had to follow the same process in order to be with him. Truth is, the bureaucratic aspect of it has done exactly the same to my relationship. The movie captures so so well the frustration, the disappointment, the fears of not knowing if you have what it takes to fight "like crazy" for each other;

The moment in the movie when she calls him and asks him to come over in 30m, breaks my heart! So real, so in despair.

So, not only because I can relate to the story, but because the acting is superb, so natural and because I believe the production & direction have accomplished what they were looking for with the movie, I give it great points.

The movie is a true mirror of youth, freshness and it's timeless, Like a Romeo & Julieta of contemporariness.

"I thought I understood it. But I didn't. I knew the smudgeness of it. The eagerness of it. The Idea of it. Of you and me." Anna (Felicity Jones)

Like Crazy is about the craziness of love without a Hollywood spin but with a conventional story that tells it like love is: unadorned, raw, a puzzle, and a disappointment. Director Drake Doremus handed the outline to actors Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin and the rest was an organic script, albeit weaker than ones Brit director Mike Leigh develops with his cast.

Although the dialogue is spare and prosaic, the realism is spot on as the young couple struggles most of all with long distance. She is on visa from the UK to study in LA. He meets her at college; she overstays her visa time and is banned from returning to the US until a lengthy process of appeal is followed.

Those who have struggled with that distance demon know how right the artists get the frustrations and changes that plague those who challenge cupid across the pond over too long a time.

Although many traditional moviegoers will not like the ending, they can be comforted that it is, alas, only too true. If nothing else, Like Crazy is a textbook study of long distance love that should be a caution before young lovers attempt the navigation.