LSUduck

Many of us dream of that one true love. That perfect match out there in the world. The love that will engulf our soul from the moment we find it and never let go. In 'Like Crazy,' we experience that love in the relationship shared by the handsome Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and bright eyed Anna (Felicity Jones). A love that develops in such an intoxicating fashion that the viewer feels as if they were falling head over heels in love themself. The young couple meets as college classmates in Los Angeles, living the best years of their lives in the bright California sun. The beautiful couple's journey begins through one of the most romantic forms of courtship, a poem from Anna left on Jacob's windshield, and spins into a whirlwind of unadulterated love. A whirlwind of love that fails to cease until the UK born Anna overstays her student visa, creating an immigration hurdle that becomes difficult to overcome. From this moment on, 'Like Crazy' separates itself from the relationship dramas of recent years. This separation comes from director and writer Drake Doremus' choice to draw from personal experiences with love, instead of creating the predictable and expected "fairy tale" love story. In the real world, love experiences many hardships like the distance between the couple, the maturity of the couple, and every person's need for affection. Doremus hits on each of these hardships and more, creating a sense of realism unmatched by any relationship drama today. This sense of realism helps create an engrossing attachment to the couple, their story, and the ability for the viewer to relate to the couple's plight. A largely ad-libbed script aides that realism. The improvisation allows the couple's dialogue and physical interactions, as well as those with their other lovers while away from each other, to appear as authentic as possible. Through these authentic interactions, Jones and Yelchin develop undeniable chemistry that just further establishes the genuineness of the relationship. Through impeccable acting, brilliant directing and an unequaled authenticity, 'Like Crazy' becomes a love story that will live on for generations to come. Alex White