Like Crazy

THE emotional reality of love and the fleeting, contrast-filled moments which simultaneously hold it together and pull it apart are intimately exposed in this depiction of a bittersweet but tumultuous love affair.

Directed and co-written by Drake Doremus, Like Crazy follows two students who tumble head over heels into true love, in a way that makes their relationship feel compelling, natural and deeply necessary.

The story is simple: London exchange student Anna (Felicity Jones) falls for her classmate Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and overstays on her student visa to spend a glorious summer in bed with him. But later as she tries to return to the US, the immigration authorities intervene and swiftly dispatch her back to London.

Missed phone calls, anxious text messages, whimsical moments and blissful reunions begin to define the now complicated relationship. Leading completely separate lives, with Jacob’s furniture business taking off in Los Angeles and Anna’s prospering career as a writer in London, they inevitably pull apart, only to be drawn straight back together.

The film, which was understandably a favourite at the Sundance Film Festival, was filmed in a handmade, improvisational style, intended to give insight into the contemporary, transcontinental love affair with all its obsessions, uncertainty, unreasonableness and excitement.

And it works. There is an intimacy with the camerawork which gives the quite beautiful effect of enabling the audience to believe we are people watching. The relationship between Anna and Jacob is utterly believable, allowing the audience complete suspension of disbelief in this beautifully acted love story.

But while it is very much a love story, it is very real – encapsulating the pain, jealousy, frustration and torment couples can inflict on each other, even without a US government-imposed 5000-mile separation. And things start to change. Jacob seeks solace with his assistant, Sam (Jennifer Lawrence) and Anna has a fling with her neighbour Simon (Charlie Bewley).

But this is a film about the far reaching impact of our decisions and also how much of a command the heart can have when it resolutely clings to a chosen person and simply refuses to let go. It explores what happens when you cannot seem to hold on to something but you can’t let it go either. Even with the temptation and opportunity to make our way down a different path, with a different person, sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants.

There is some comic relief provided in the form of Anna’s middle-class parents, played by Alex Kingston and Oliver Muirhead. But despite the undisputed acting pedigree offered by Kingston and Muirhead, it is the young stars of this movie that shine.

Every scene in this film amplifies the emotions of the main characters; every look, touch or word is significant and it shines with a raw sweetness and honesty that makes observers ache with sympathy – and hope – as we watch their love story and longing for each other unfold.

Like Crazy will be in cinemas nationwide March 1.