TMG Scale 7.5     P Factor 0.0     MPAA Rating: PG-13
Starring Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Anton Yelchin

Joy Lynn: This is a low budget film that feels authentic.  It is very different than so many of the rom-coms that have been produced this year. There is no TMG “P Factor.” That’s the good news.   But this is not an action packed,  Friday night date movie. It is a slow paced romance drama.

Jacob (Yelchin) and Anna (Jones) are perfect together.  They are two  students who meet in a college class in Los Angeles. Jacob is a United State’s citizen and Anna is a Brit.  They fall in love, but then Anna gets banned from the U.S. for overstaying her visa. She returns to London.  The both try to maintain that same level of affection while living apart, but both end up in transient affairs. Do they hang on or let go?

Jacob and Anna have great  chemistry with each other, so most of the film is real dialogue and natural synergy between them.  They portray pretty much what you would see and hear if you were eavesdropping on a young couple in love. They are very convincing in portraying their love for each other. It is no surprise that Like Crazy captured top jury honors and a Best Actress prize for Jones.  The music is finely synchronized with the body movements providing an artistic perspective.

Jennifer Lawrence, (Winter’s Bone, 2010) does a great job playing Samantha, the girl Jacob  finds himself with when he is back in the United States while Anna remains in the U.K..  Spoiler Alert: She handles the devastation of loosing Jacob with such grace and calmness.  There are no angry outbursts or shouting matches.  It’s unnecessary.  You are emotionally connected without it.

Having said all that, the bad news is that  the script is similar to Martha, Marcy May, Marlene.  The story starts with questions and ends with questions and the plot has a few missteps.  The end will make you feel cheated for not being allowed to experience the final chapter.  It ends too abruptly. Great acting and romance, but the punch is missing…and hence so is this film from many mainstream theatres. Like a vintage sweet port wine, it may be good, but it’s not for everyone.