Movie Review: Like Crazy

I'm just going to start off by saying: you're "like" crazy if you watch and enjoy this movie. On the Netflix star scale, I have this movie a great big uno. And only because giving it a zero isn't an option.

Now, I was pretty excited about the film, because it had won some awards and had been talked about as a possible Oscar contender this last year. I saw some of the previews for it and it looked like it could be cute and sweet... In fact, that's how it had been categorized by some real critics: a funny romance. I can only deduce that it is one of those incredibly artsy films that no one understands but film students at NYU, and thus it should not be shown to the general public. 10 minutes in, and we were already considering turning it off, slipping it back into it's little paper pocket, and shoving it in the mailbox.

Unfortunately, for us, we kept watching in hopes that it would turn around and somehow become worth two hours of our time.

Wrong.

[Spoilers Below...as in, the whole movie plot]

Okay, for those of you who are still intrigued, Like Crazy is a film about a long distance relationship between an English girl and an American boy. The girl (Anna? Hannah? See, it was so terrible, I didn't even care to remember her name) is studying at a university in LA when she meets boy (don't remember his name, either). They fall in love, have a romance, and she promises she will come back to visit so they can keep their love alive. Her parents love him (mom is River Song), she loves him, their future is bright, life is wonderful. Well, in an idiotic move, she declines to go home when she is supposed to, thus violating her visa (keep in mind, she knows she is violating her visa and says "I don't care, I'm in love."). She then tries to return later as a tourist, but the US won't let her enter the country because of her violation.

She cries, he might cry... Life is terribly sad. They start living separate lives, she as an assistant to a magazine editor, he designing and making furniture (mostly really, really ugly chairs). He starts seeing someone else (Jennifer Lawrence, aka Katniss), she starts flirting with her neighbor. All of a sudden, she misses him, and asks him to come see her. He flies to London, life is great... Her parents--who love him, remember--suggest they get married so she can move back to America. And then they don't "click" like they used to, and there is some apprehension. He gets pissed off and leaves.

They decide they miss each other, again, and he flies back to London. She talks to a lawyer, who says after they get married, it's 6 months until she can get a marriage visa. So, they get married. The love each other. Life is wonderful. He goes back to LA to work (because, apparently, it is impossible for him to design and make ugly chairs in the UK), and she waits patiently for his return.

He comes back six months later, they go to the US Embassy to get her visa straightened out, and it's denied until she gets her previous violation taken care of. He's sad, she's sad, they take it out on each other... He goes back to America.

He and Katniss get hot and heavy and she has her sexy neighbor man move in with her. She gets a job promotion, and sexy neighbor man has her parents over to celebrate. It's obvious they don't much like sexy neighbor man. Sexy neighbor man pops "the question." She never actually says no, but it's obvious she is going to.

She texts boy, he refuses to text back... He's going at it with Katniss.

Her lawyer calls--her visa issues have been cleared up, she can now go to the US. Katniss is out. Girl moves in with him. They act like they are really bored.

End of movie.

Real life? Yes, probably. Movie worthy? Um, hell no. The whole thing was lots of shaking cameras, scenes where no one does anything but cook dinner, lots of montages of them sleeping in bed. Neither of the characters were particularly likeable--he was stubborn and all "me, me, me" and she was stupid and kind of overly emotional. There was no big hook. It was just... a long distance relationship that should have ended after its first 6 months. And comedy??? Where was the comedy?

Unless, of course, we're talking "omg, this movie is so terrible, it's funny."