Like Crazy

Maybe they'll let us live together in international waters

Grade: B –

Director: Drake Doremus

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence and Charlie Bewley

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min.

The mutual affection for the music of Paul Simon that Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and Anna (Felicity Jones) share in Like Crazy is an ironic giveaway about this post-Graduate tale of the power of love – for better and for worse.

The two college kids meet while Anna is a British exchange student studying in Los Angeles. As visa entanglements and other circumstances conspire to keep them apart, it eventually becomes clear that both Jacob and Anna thrive more, personally and professionally, while separated from each other and, indeed, in the arms of substitute lovers (played by Jennifer Lawrence and Charlie Bewley, respectively).

Still, each are like moths drawn to the other’s flame, locked in a quest to recapture the inextricable and elusive je ne said quoi of unbridled love, to both exhilarating and corrosive effect. Nevertheless, writer-director Drake Doremus’ Sundance-winning drama moves at a turgid pace, with Jacob and Anna remaining more an intriguing concept than fully realized characters. Eventually, the sounds of silence drown out the interest we’re meant to hold in this self-interested duo.

Neil Morris