Review of Like Crazy (2011) by Melvin W — 20 Nov 2012

Anna:  I just have to say one thing and it's really important that you just listen to me. I just... It doesn't feel like this, this thing is gonna go away, it's always there. I can't... I can't get on with my life. .

"I want you. I need you. I love you. I miss you.".

Like Crazy is a nice little love story with two solid performances from Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones. Overall the movie was a nice mixture of happiness and sadness. The problem with this movie lies in the pacing and development. A lot of the material feels rushed through, and the movie comes in at what seems like a brisk hour and a half. These problems aren't enough to completely destroy the film, but they are problems that detract from an otherwise well made movie.

Jacob and Anna meet and fall in love, but when Anna overstays her visa; she isn't allowed back into the country. This is a quiet and very emotion fueled film. A lot of the emotion comes from the good performances from Yelchin and Jones. Their performances have a lot of feeling in them and it makes the movies relationship appear impossibly strong. .

The film has that independent feeling all over it. It's shot well and there's some nice, if somewhat gimmicky, editing tricks. I liked the movie for how scenes were shot though. I also really enjoyed how time was passed onscreen. There was no need for words to tell us how long it had been. We were always able to have a good sense of where the relationship was at.

The movie definitely isn't without its problems, but overall it's a worthwhile film. Nothing about it is all that impressive, but nothing about it is bad either. It's a movie that exists to remind everyone about the beauty of falling in love and how one couple copes with not being able to be together. The movie will mean more to those who have had similar relationships, but the beauty should be able to be seen by everyone. Even if that beauty makes 50% of us puke.