The things that are most important are often invisible to the eye but apparent to the heart.
“Like Crazy,” a Drake Doremus film, exemplifies this idea through the hardships that the main characters Anna (Felicity Jones, “The Tempest”) and Jacob (Anton Yelchin, “Star Trek”) encounter throughout their love affair. The adversity causes them to put their trust in what their heart feels rather than what their eyes see during the course of their tumultuous relationship.
What initially appears to be a sweet tale of young, carefree romance suddenly takes a drastic turn when Jacob finds himself thousands of miles away from Anna, an English student studying abroad who has violated her student visa and is denied re-entry into the country.
“Like Crazy” presents an uncontrived illustration of the good, the bad and the ugly sides of love.
From the very first scene, Jones and Yelchin’s chemistry is captivating. But the chemistry that appeared so naturally on screen was not easily found, as Jones told The Eagle in an interview.
“It was really hard work, and we didn’t really get on initially,” Jones said. “After the first few days of rehearsal, we got into a rhythm that worked and eventually it was OK.”
This organic process of discovering their personal chemistry and putting that into their characters is what makes Anna and Jacob’s relationship so believable. There is nothing contrived about the relationship because of the improvisational nature of the roles.
“Like Crazy” was an improvisational performance in which Jones and Yelchin were presented with a rare opportunity to personify their characters based on what they felt after reading the script.
“This process really is kind of a blessing for an actor to be able to make a film with such freedom,” Yelchin said.
The autonomy that director Drake Doremus (“Douchebag”) gives Jones and Yelchin is what allows Anna and Jacob’s character to be so relatable. Jones and Yelchin do not just act what they are told their relationship is supposed to be — they feel it. The openly interpreted nature of the romance is enhanced through the use of montages and music in substitution for words.
Throughout the film, Anna and Jacob find themselves on different sides of the world, communicating through hurried phone conversation and quick text messages. They are with different people who they end up loving and hurting in order to pursue their relationship.
Co-star Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone”), Jacob’s post-Anna girlfriend Sam, and Charlie Bewley (“The Twilight Saga: New Moon”) Anna’s post-Jacob boyfriend Simon, each say no more than ten lines. But during those ten lines, their heartbreak is illustrated through the montages and musical fillings as Jacob breaks up with Sam two times to go back to Anna and Anna declines Simon’s marriage proposal.
In order to find love, they must trust their hearts to guide their way instead of their eyes, which illustrates an easier path with the love interest they have in their respective continents.
Just as open to interpretation of the characters is the ambiguous ending to the film. The audience is left to decide the relationship’s fate and it is this same silence that speaks volumes.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
