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Anyone who’s been in a long-distance relationship knows how difficult it is to be separated from the person you love. Since my husband and I lived in different countries until eight months into our marriage, I can tell you all about the added challenges that distance places on any relationship. But I can also tell you that it can work—as long as the two people involved are more mature than the couple in Like Crazy.
Brit Anna (Felicity Jones) and American Jacob (Anton Yelchin) fall madly in love during their final year of college in Los Angeles. When it comes time for Anna to return home, she can’t bear the thought of being away from Jacob, so she violates her student visa to stay in California for the summer. When she goes back to visit her family, however, she’s not allowed back into the States—and so begins the couple’s agonizing long-distance relationship.
Like Crazy follows the relationship through years of ups and downs—through the frustrations, the phone calls, the break-ups, and the enthusiastic reunions. They try, they fail, and they try again as they attempt to appeal Anna’s visa.
While it’s marketed as a love story, though, Like Crazy is really an infatuation story. Both characters are irritatingly immature—and, as their story plays out, it becomes clear that they’re not really in love with each other as much as they’re in love with the idea of being in love with each other.
Anna, especially, is a frustrating character. Her irresponsible decision to blow off her visa starts the whole mess, after which she constantly toys with Jacob’s emotions, calling him whenever she feels sad or bored or lonely—which then causes him to dump his sweet new girlfriend, Sam (Jennifer Lawrence), faster than you can say “co-dependent.”
Meanwhile, much of the film’s dialogue was apparently improvised, which could explain why the film is so full of awkward discussions and uncomfortable silences (and close-ups of feet). At times—especially during the couple’s first date—it makes the characters’ interaction feel natural, since it has all of the nervousness and self-consciousness of any real first date. At other times, though, it’s just plain slow and overwrought. It also makes the relationship hard to believe—because people who are truly in love shouldn’t look this ill at ease when they’re together.
Like Crazy is a maddening film about a seriously unhealthy relationship. Most mature viewers will be frustrated by the characters’ terrible decisions—and you’ll most likely find yourself wanting to scream at them from your seat, to tell them to grow up and move on with their lives already. Granted, the story is often brutally honest—since a lot of couples really are this clueless and naïve (which could explain the country’s high divorce rate). But that doesn’t necessarily make for an enjoyable (or romantic) movie-going experience.
