Loyal readers of my review blog may recall that I saw a film last year that I was enormously looking forward to, and which lived up to my very high expectations when I was lucky enough to see an advance screening of it at the BFI London Film Festival.
A film which I commented at the time would "no doubt get a lot of critical praise but which probably won't get a nationwide release in order to get the audience numbers that will make it a hit. If it comes to an independent cinema near you I urge you to seek it out and go see it."
It turns out I could not have been more right, as the film has been released this Friday 27th January, and while it is showing at mainstream cinemas across the country, it is only showing at a handful of them.
I therefore thought it prudent to remind my readers of my thoughts on the film and again urge you to see it, if you are lucky enough to live near (or even in) a town that is showing Like Crazy...
The film starts off as your typical girl meets boy, the girl is british student Anna (Felicity Jones), who is studying at a college in Los Angeles. The boy is fellow student Jacob (Anton Yelchin). The pair fall so in love that Anna decides to stay in LA after student visa has expired. She returns to the UK a few months later but when she tries to re-enter the states she is denied entry because she violated her previous visa. And so follows a story of two people trying to make it work under the pressure of great distance.
Having never been in a long distance relationship myself I can't comment on whether this is an accurate portrayal of one. But I can say that it seems more realistic than most I've seen. The performances from the two leads are mature (for such young actors) and thoughtful. I know from articles that I read (when I was trying to find out more information) that most of the dialogue was improvised which just speaks volumes about how they seem to have really taken the time to create these characters, rather than just taking their cue from the writer/director. I also thought Jennifer Lawrence's performance, although a much smaller role, was heartbreaking.
The only thing I would change is the very abrupt ending which left one person sitting near me to ask 'do you think there'll be a sequel?' The answer is no, I don't think there will. The message at the end was very clear to me. But that doesn't mean it had to end there. I could have happily watched for another 15-30 minutes as you get so wrapped up in these characters lives that you want nothing but things between them to work out.
This is a film which will no doubt get a lot of critical praise but which probably won't get a nationwide release in order to get the audience numbers that will make it a hit. If it comes to an independent cinema near you I urge you to seek it out and go see it. 9 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 15th October 2011
UK Release Date - 27th January 2012
Cast Overview:
Anton Yelchin ~ Jacob
Felicity Jones ~ Anna
Jennifer Lawrence ~ Sam
Charlie Bewley ~ Simon
Alex Kingston ~ Jackie
Oliver Muirhead ~ Bernard
Director ~ Drake Doremus
Writer(s) ~ Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment