Like Crazy - The Movie

[phoenix-]

Has anyone seen this movie yet? It's the ultimate LDR flick, oh my god! I was having a sleepless night and decided to flick through netflix when I saw this. Before I give anything else away, someone go watch it, lol!

F.

[kittyo9]

I am positive that this movie has been discussed here several times, as it is one of the only movies to actually show an LDR because it is an LDR.

Anyway, my SO and I were not impressed. It was a nice movie, but the acting was not great and the chemistry between the actors made it feel really awkward 90% of the time. And then the end... it just felt like they were together solely because they were married, not because they loved each other and not because they wanted to make it work. They were so much better in their other relationships.

[ThePiedPiper]

It was a big thing on here when it first came out. I didn't care for it at all. I know a lot of people felt it represented LDRs, but I actually found most of their issues preventable. Neither one communicated, both made ridiculously stupid decisions that they continued to repeat while destroying their relationship in the meantime, and there was no real character development by the end of the film. I loved it aesthetically, but speaking in terms of story, it bothered me from the perspective that most of their issues could have been avoided had they actually sat down and talked and had she not made the decision to do what she did in the beginning of the film in the first place. And had they both not made almost every single decision they did following...

[summerkid]

i like my story better than that story.... i like the stories here a whole lot better than that story. I didn't even think it was about LDR, but about two confused, awkward ( yeah very bad chemistry), self-centered, cold young adults who have a disfunctional relationship which just happens to be made worse by the fact that they are LD. More about the anguish and the features of a modern adult in a modern relationship or something, than about LDR.

[Ahava]

I would have to agree with Kittyo9. I just watched the movie. Jacob was really cute though, a pleasure to look at

[phoenix-]

Aw, that's too bad. I was so excited to share it too. xD Oh well.

I thought it was a rather poignant, accurate depiction of my particular brand of LDR. I think it was the awkwardness that truly spoke to me. My first date was exactly like that: awkward but monumental. Beautiful for lack of a better word. We both thought our thing couldn't go anywhere, so we fought our feelings while continuing to see one another because, in the end, we just couldn't help ourselves despite the knowledge that we would be apart eventually. Maybe the age of the characters was also relevant to me. People meet right at the end of one chapter of their lives - chance can throw them together, send logic and good sense to the wind. None of my decisions after I met my SO were logical in any sense. We knew we were getting into something that would make us sad a lot. We knew the statistics. We knew it would cost us tears and thousands of dollars, but here we are, still at it.

Then followed the awkwardness during visits, the feeling of being on vacation instead of being a part of the other person's life, even the happiness became a crutch at times, the errant thought that maybe it would be better if we saw other people while we were apart. I specially loved that they tried to stay away from one another. Because that's what "logical" young adults would try to do, I think. I loved that phone call that brought them back together again. The line, "So how about you come over, yeah?" while they were almost bawling their eyes out. I've said those words before. It's the accompanying bittersweet ache in my chest that really got me.

Ah, well. I thought it was worth sharing anyway. <3

[ThePiedPiper]

See, the way you describe it, I feel like it could have been poignant, but if I recall, the whole "seeing other people" thing was more than a thought and happened several times, even at the expense of their relationship. That's when it stopped being logical to me. It's not logic to continuously destroy your relationship by repeating what dented it the first time. :/ That's the point it becomes toxic. I guess the way I saw it was in a LDR, yes, it's okay to have the "this is going to be too hard but I love you so much" in the beginning, but then you either commit to it or you don't. You either decide you're going to go forward with your LDR or you don't. A LDR is not something you can be half-in, half-out of without causing problems that might cause permanent and lasting damage to your relationship, and that's what bothered me so much about them. The only commitment they seemed to have/share was following through on the visa process. There was no actual commitment to their relationship, and the characters could have been the same people at the end as they were in the beginning, just less in love. If it's one thing I learned from being in a LDR, it's that I grew exponentially from the situation, especially in the form of communication. As I remember, neither of them ever learned to communicate. And that's what frustrated me. It's a good fit for a young, new relationship but eventually you have to commit your blood, sweat and tears to making it work, you decide to stop the back and forth, you realise you don't want anyone else and so stop thinking about anyone else, and you make it work and you follow it through until it either ends or you close the distance. They never did that. I think that's what bothered me the most, but I agree had it evolved from what you're talking about into a mature, committed LDR, it could have been very poignant, because I liked the aspects you pointed out. I just thought that for a movie to finally represent a LDR, all it represented was the beginning; there are a lot more complicated factors that a LDR needs to survive, and commitment is one of them, but I guess that wouldn't make for much drama and would therefore make for much less of a film.

[CynicalQuixotic]

This film is a textbook example of a story that would've been good if not ruined by amateurish filmmaking. Also, everything ThePiedPiper said. It was just badly executed on all fronts.

[wayoutofhere]

I think when I first saw it I quite liked it but it's not something I would watch all over again. It could've been a lot better.
I got annoyed by the fact that the girl stayed over longer than she could and then she wasn't let into the country? WHO is that stupid to do that..