"Like Crazy" isn't your typical small indie film. Unlike most art house films that fall under the radar, director Drake Doremus' "Like Crazy" may actually have the rare potential to win over mainstream audiences with its honest, no−frills characters and poignant story of young true love.
"Like Crazy" follows the whirlwind romance between British college student Anna (Felicity Jones) and her American classmate, Jacob (Anton Yelchin), in Los Angeles. When Anna overstays her student visa and is banned from returning to the United States, the couple is forced to maintain a long−distance relationship that neither one of them truly knows how to handle at such a young age.
Frankly, the plot of the film isn't anything new. Two young people who fall in love and are forced apart by uncontrollable circumstances is the basis for any Nicholas Sparks movie. But "Like Crazy" is not your typical romantic drama, and Doremus makes sure of it. "Like Crazy" is different from other films because of the organic process by which it was produced.
The semi−autobiographical "Like Crazy" loosely portrays the director's rollercoaster relationship with a woman in London that was also riddled with visa issues, time differences and thousands of miles of land and sea. Most people won't know this before going to see the film, but none of that really matters. Within the first 15 minutes, viewers immediately get the sense that this isn't just a fictional tale; it reads like a page out of someone's life story.
Doremus' execution of the film is even more impressive, especially considering the film didn't even have a script. With nothing but a detailed 50−page outline to go by, the director and actors devoted time to do some soul−searching with the characters by delving into the depths of their emotions, back stories and subtext. After a couple of weeks of rehearsal, the film started rolling and Jones and Yelchin improvised all of the dialogue. Yes, all of it.
Yelchin is a natural at improv; he makes it easy for Jones to follow his lead. As for Jones, the intimate vulnerability and openness she brings to the character of Anna rightfully landed her the award for Best Actress at the Sundance Film Festival this year.
Similar to Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy's characters in "Before Sunrise" (1995) and "Before Sunset" (2004), Yelchin and Jones have an incredible knack for improvisation that makes viewers feel like they've accidentally walked in on one of their private conversations. As Jones expressed in the pre−screening Q&A session, some of the best kinds of movies are the character development films seeped in dialogue — just two people talking with nothing to distract them but their own thoughts and feelings.
In one of the most powerful scenes in the film, the couple visits Catalina during their last days together before Anna has to return to London. The pair sits on a porch overlooking the ocean, and an American flag in the distance divides them on either side of the porch frame. The beauty of the scene lies in the casual innocence of Anna and Jacob's conversation about tuna fish, as they fail to acknowledge the foreshadowing of their relationship — a symbol of the U.S. government is quite literally coming between them in the backdrop. Although the two are connected in the present, the flag still draws a barrier between them.
While the story follows Anna and Jacob's relationship from the ages of 19 to 27, the conversations and scenes in "Like Crazy" often appear sporadic, but therein lies the point Doremus is trying to make with this film. Real life isn't about continuity; it's about piecing together snippets of moments and conversations.
Originally, the film included timecards before every scene. Luckily, Doremus got rid of this technique because he found the timecards distracting. Instead, Doremus decided to use the film's jump−cut style scenes to compel the audience to figure out the characters' progression for themselves. While this might frustrate some moviegoers who are used to being spoon−fed timeframes so as not to be confused with plotlines, "Like Crazy" proves Doremus has a slightly higher respect for the competency of audiences than do most people in the film industry.
Studios were hardly put−off by Doremus' bold techniques. In fact, the day after it was screened for the first time at Sundance earlier this year, "Like Crazy" was such a hit that Focus Features, Fox Searchlight, the Weinstein Co. and Paramount Pictures all jostled to snatch up the rights to the film. Ultimately, however, it was Paramount Pictures who acquired the art house film for a cool $4 million.
The film's incredible truthfulness and organic, off−the−cuff dialogue recreate both the passion and pain implicit in a long−distance relationship. With its genuine, candid portrayal of two people in love, "Like Crazy" will hopefully be one of those few art house gems that draws both indie and mainstream audiences to the theaters.
