By Louise Cheer

Being a romantic genre junkie, I always judge whether or not I like a film on whether or not I would see it again and how often. With Like Crazy, which is not short on likeable talent, I am still undecided at this point. The film stars British actress Felicity Jones – known for her role opposite Helen Mirren in the most recent reworking of Shakespeare’s The Tempest – and Russian-born actor Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov in the latest movie revamp of Star Trek and Bobby Garfield in Anthony Hopkin’s Hearts in Atlantis.

The story is simple. British student and aspiring journalist Anna meets furniture design major Jacob when she is on exchange in Los Angeles. The pair meet, fall in love and before we know it Anna’s visa expiration date is looming. But in an eleventh hour decision, instead of leaving her loved-up bubble, she overstays her time in the US by two and a half months. This comes back and bites her on the arse later on when she tries to re-enter the land of the free. She is then sent packing back to the UK and a ban is placed on her travelling to the United States to see Jacob, who has started up a blossoming furniture business in LA. What follows is how each half of the couple copes with their separation, and the strains and frustrations that come with maintaining a relationship across the expanse of an ocean.

There are many engaging and believable performances in this film, a large chunk coming from Jones – who I am a little biased towards because she starred in a Jane Austen telemovie. I could not help but be drawn to her girlish, radiating charms throughout the film, which stole your attention away from Yelchin in some scenes. What’s particularly convincing is her performance of genuine happiness and enthusiasm when Anna receives a gift from Jacob. It’s as if she was playing herself because she just seemed so comfortable in her role as was Yelchin. He was able to communicate to the audience his silent suffering through his devastating, yet extremely emotive, facial expressions.

What this film lacked the most was its initial draw card to woo the audience to connect with its characters. It was only halfway through the movie that I felt my first connection with the couple and their woeful story, and this happened when the pair were apart. This was because the beginning of the film moves so quickly through the first spark of their relationship, coupled with scenes that only the pair themselves could understand and connect with – leaving me uncomfortable, almost like I was the third wheel.

Like Crazy also served as a reminder that there are consequences to the irrational decisions we makes when consumed by love. The film’s realistic approach gives a snapshot of the ups and downs of every couple’s relationship – especially one that is long-distance, and the struggles two people go through to stay in touch and connected.

In its entirety, Like Crazy does not sugar coat love like its other Hollywood-made counterparts (and does not star one M. McConaughey). The moments where I was most amused featured Anna’s parents. Her parents are well-cast with Alex Kingston, who plays Dr River Song in Doctor Who, as Anna’s mother and British actor Oliver Muirhead – whose credits include a role in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me – as her father. They added the balancing dash of humour needed to break up the melancholy and bittersweet tone of the movie.

The only parting advice I have to give if you’re going to see this movie is to ensure you’re in the right reflective mood to fully appreciate it. I think if I was in this mood, like the person I saw it with was, I would have appreciated its indie roots and depth of emotion a little bit more.