Young love is already a frenzied cauldron of emotions, but young long distance love is whole other kettle of fish (or ball of wax) with geographic and heartache adding another sense of heightened feeling to a relationship. And so enters the Sundance hit “Like Crazy,” the low key romancer starring Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones which walked away from Park City with the Grand Jury Prize for director Drake Doremus and Special Jury Prize for Felicity Jones.
A trailer has now landed for the film and it’s mostly pretty good. The two leads — and yes, that’s Jennifer Lawerence in a small role — certainly display some great chemistry and easily sell a relationship that is both extremely intimate and vulnerable at the same time. Doremus gives the film a hazy dreamlike quality and he certainly captures that heady air of fledgling love. However, that being said, if we had one complaint, it’s the obnoxious volume of Ingrid Michaelson‘s pretty bad cover of “Only Fools Rush In” obscuring nearly half of the mumbly dialogue (either that, or we’re getting old and our hearing is going). But it’s frustrating to try and parse out what the characters are saying over clanging piano keys.
Described by one of our Playlist team as falling somewhere between “(500) Days of Summer” and “Blue Valentine” the film opens on October 28th and we’ll have to see if the work of the actors — in particular Jones — will factor into the awards season race. Synopsis and trailer below (or in HD at Apple).
A love story is both a physical and emotional tale, one that can be deeply personal and heartbreaking for an audience to experience. Director Drake Doremus’ film Like Crazy beautifully illustrates how your first real love is as thrilling and blissful as it is devastating. When a British college student (Felicity Jones) falls for her American classmate (Anton Yelchin) they embark on a passionate and life-changing journey only to be separated when she violates the terms of her visa.Like Crazy explores how a couple faces the real challenges of being together and of being apart. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Picture at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and of the Special Jury Prize for Best Actress for Felicity Jones, Like Crazydepicts both the hopefulness and the heartbreak of love.