Young, first love can be intoxicating ““ so much so that one can get into a drunken stupor over it.
This is the case presented in the romantic drama “Like Crazy” as English foreign student Anna (Felicity Jones) declares her love for American student Jacob (Anton Yelchin) via a note on his windshield after class. The two instantly become enamored with each other and the audience becomes smitten with them ““ that is, until the inevitable hangover of that aforementioned intoxication sets in.
The couple is so charming and innocent ““ what with her hip sky-blue nail polish and nonchalant top-knot bun and his scruffy almost-beard and meek voice. It’s a delight to see their whirlwind romance begin, complete with dreamy gallivanting down Third Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier, which, by the way, never, ever looks so hazily romantic in real life.
Reality and drama sinks in as Anna is denied entry to the United States for overstaying her student visa to spend the summer with Jacob after already graduating. What becomes months of waiting and transatlantic visits becomes years, as Jacob remains in Los Angeles to continue his quirky furniture business while Anna stays in London to work at a magazine.
Their initial starry-eyed love turns into a weary game of push and pull, which becomes a little exasperating, especially since they dug themselves their own bureaucratic hole. The cloying nature of the relationship can be a bit much to watch as parties on both sides attempt to move on to other romantic interests, but not really.
Jacob finds solace in sunny California blonde Sam (Jennifer Lawrence) and Anna is taken with neighbor Simon (Charlie Bewley), both of whom become casualties of this star-crossed romance. As this is a film made post-2000, iPhone texts take center stage in stirring up turmoil, which may turn off those averse to the trivial game of drama-loaded text messages.
Jones and Yelchin, who both exhibit a sense of tenderness that envelops the film and gives the subject matter its fragility, shine the most. Jones gives a breakout performance as a wide-eyed British ingenue, and if there was an award for best sullen shower face, she would win hands down. Likewise, the chemistry between Yelchin and Jones radiates from one to the other, even as they develop from traipsing lovers into world-weary twenty-somethings.
In a film built on nuances, director Drake Doremus captures the ephemeral waves of first love perfectly as Anna and Jacob attempt to retain that bubble of innocence they had in the beginning of their affair.
Even when the frustrations of modern day young romance become a touch irksome, the film succeeds in depicting the intimacy of young love, from late nights spent in comfortable silence to the tickle of a lover’s breath. Likewise, it becomes a tear-inducing narrative on the succubus that love can be over distance and time.