The Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part 1: Pretty Good.

Director Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games, I am Legend) has delivered a pretty good sequel with Mockingjay1. For fans of the series and the films, this installment is basically Catching Fire but with a far less interesting plot.

Premise: Katniss is now in District 13 after District 12 is destroyed. President Coin tries to convince her that she must be the Mockingjay, the symbol of the revolution. Result: More a psychological thriller with limited action, the film is a pretty good set up for the upcoming final installment.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is back again after a second bout in the Hunger Games that landed her in the midst of rebellion. Yet her days are spent essentially moping despite some familiar faces: Gale (Liam Hemsworth), her mom and Prim, a shell-shocked Finnick (Sam Claflin), and even the detoxing duo of Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) and Effie (Elizabeth Banks) – one from booze and the other from accessories.

But Katniss can’t quite shake the absence of her pretend love, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) who suffers endlessly at the hands of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in the Capital. And so despite her melancholy. District 13 President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) plot to make Katniss the reluctant heroine of a revolution.

X-Men – Days of Future Past: Back to the Bang We Expect!

Director Bryan Singer (X-Men, X-Men 2) has returned to his beloved X-Men franchise and brought it back from the brink. One of the best multi-character X-Men films in recent memory, Days of Future Past quite literally has more than enough character to go around.

Premise: The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a last-ditch effort to change the past and prevent the rise of the Sentinels, which marks the end for both humans and mutants. Result: Exhilarating, interesting and entertaining are just a few words to describe this return to X-Men cinematic glory.

The latest installment of X-Men is likely the best full cast version in some time (2013’s The Wolverine may be the best solo vehicle) connecting an uncertain, devastating future with a sad, certain past. The film begins with several key members of the faltering X-Men – Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Bishop (Omar Sy), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), and Blink (Bingbing Fan), among others – attempting, in vain, to fend off the unstoppable Sentinels, the creation of the monstrous Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), as they destroy everything in their path.

Their only saving grace is Pryde’s power, the ability to send another mutant back in time to shape the future. It is this ability that piques the interest of the X-Men leaders Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart ), Storm (Halle Berry), and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who along with former foe Erik Lensherr (Ian McKellen) find the small cadre tucked away in a far off monastery in the mountains. But despite its remote locale, it is only a matter of time before they are discovered.

Golden Chalice Award – Top Performances of 2013

While there were certainly many phenomenal films in 2013, there is little doubt that many of these would have been nothing without the mesmerizing, often stupefying performances that defined them.  This year’s winners of the Golden Chalice, as well as their nominated peers, gave us some of the best acting in recent memory.

Below you will find those impressive performances divided by male and female performances (although the distinction between supporting or lead is not part of the criteria.)  You can see last year’s winners (2012), dominated by The Master.

American Hustle: Powerful, Well Acted and Missing Just a Little Something

Writer/director David O. Russell (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook)  working with screenwriter Eric Singer, has delivered another strong, emotionally-driven film that is thrilling as well as superbly acted.  While Hustle is ultimately an imperfect film, it is still another strong Russell showing.

Premise: The somewhat true story of an FBI crime bust in the 1970s. Result: A beautifully acted, beautifully film story that will give audiences most, if certainly not all, of what they expected.

The story, based (loosely?) on actual events, centers on con-artist Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and his partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) as they lie, cheat and steal from the bottom-feeders through an elaborate loan scheme.  The scheme itself is somewhat confusing since it ultimately steals money from people who are aware of where they work – why there are no reprisals is an unsolved mystery that dampens what is a fun introduction.

Well, no reprisals until FBI–agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) gets a hold of them  The plot of the remainder of the film may on the surface feel essentially like a “don’t con a con man” picture but there is much more to it than that.  The intricate plot is complicated in scene after scene as various relationships become tangled, steaming with emotion and fear.

The Hunger Games – Catching Fire: A Thriller That’s an Improvement on the First

Despite a legacy of mediocre films, director Francis Lawrence (I am Legend, Constantine) has delivered anything but with Catching Fire.  The film is itself is a great improvement on the first, while still continuing the legacy of characters and events fans of the Trilogy and the first film have come to love.

Premise: The second installment of The Hunger Games Trilogy finds Katniss back in the arena with far greater dangers than before. Result: An action-packed sequel that builds on the success of the first and goes far beyond.

Catching Fire picks up where the first film leaves off, with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) struggling in the physical, political and emotional aftermath of the last Hunger Games.  She walks a fine line: she has been seen as an inspiration to the Districts and President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is eager to stomp out this flame in its infancy.

She has her allies in Love-Interest #1 Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and Love-interest #2 Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), with whom she won the Hunger Games.  She has her family still and the rest of her motley entourage in Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) and Effie (Elizabeth Banks); but the daily struggles only worsen as the Capital become ever more fearful of the District’s unruliness, believed at its heart to be Katniss’s doing.

The 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards Results…and Predictions!

This year’s awards were held on Sunday, January 27^th at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles with the film Argo taking home the top prize as the latest in a series of results that cast further doubt on the justice of its Oscar snubbing.  However, this thus still leaves that prize open for the Oscars while making a few races in the Acting category harder or easier to predict, depending on the category.  Note that while actors make up the largest voting bloc of the Academy, this bloc is still only approximately 20% of the full voting membership.

This Year’s Awards

There were five Film Categories.  Of these, four align to other major award ceremonies:  Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.  However, there is also one unique category: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture focusing on a film’s acting as a whole.

In the category of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture the casts of Argo, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Les Misérables, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook were nominated.  This year, Argo overcame heavy favorites like Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook  to take home the SAG award.  This is particularly peculiar considering most of its competition in this category had several individual acting nominations while Argo had only Arkin called out specifically.  It should be noted that in three of the last five years, this category has been aligned to the best Picture Academy Award; yet last year’s SAG winner, The Help, lost to The Artist at the Oscars.

 

In the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), John Hawkes (The Sessions), Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables), and Denzel Washington (Flight) received nominations.  In a development that surprised no one, Daniel Day-Lewis won for his performance as the titular role in Lincoln. While Jackman has moved audiences abound for his role as Jean Valjean and The Academy does appear to value Washington’s contributions (two-time winner), it seems as if this race has already been decided here at SAG, considering the last eight SAG award winners in this category went on to win the Oscar. However, Joaquin Phoenix is nominated in this category in Oscar competition and may yet be a wildcard.

 

In the category of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role nominees include Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone), Helen Mirren (Helen Mirren), and Naomi Watts (The Impossble). In this category, Jennifer Lawrence, for her role as Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook, defeated Chastain who had also received significant buzz for a far more dramatic role. This category is far less certain however when history is taken into account: while the 2010 and 2011 SAG recipients in this category also went on to take the Oscar, the previous two recipients had not. More importantly, last year Viola Davis won this award but lost the Oscar to Streep. The race is still on!

 

In the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role the nominees were Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Alan Arkin (Argo), Javier Bardem (Skyfall), Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook), and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Master).  Tommy Lee Jones won this year’s prize for his role as the silver-tongued U.S. Representative Thaddeus Stevens. This category, not unlike Male Actor in a Leading Role, has matched the Academy exactly the last five years running.  Jones was ill and could not be present to accept his award.

 

In the category of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role the nominees were Annie Hathaway (Les Misérables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions), Maggie Smith (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Sally Field (Lincoln), Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy).  Like at the Golden Globes, Hathaway wins this year’s prize for her role as Fantine in Les Misérables, all but solidifying her Oscar win. The last three winners of the SAG award in this category went on to win the Oscar.

* Please note, the non-Motion Picture categories not included in this review are: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries, Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series.

 

www.sagawards.org, awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/

Silver Linings Playbook: A Hilarious and Heartfelt View of Crazy People Let Loose on Life

Director David O. Russell (The Fighter) has brilliantly adapted Matthew Quick’s Silver Linings Playbook, to deliver one of the more interesting, heartfelt films of the year.  Replete with clever dialogue and superb acting, SLP will be worth watching, over and over again.

Premise: Recently released inmate Pat tries to claw his way back into his wife’s heart, although Tiffany may have something to say about that.  Result: A brilliant comedy that delivers deep emotion and awkward comedy and makes them both work.

The film begins with the sudden release of mental patient Pat (Bradley Cooper) by his mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver).  Having been placed in the hospital by the courts after nearly beating his wife’s lover to death, Pat has spent his 8 month incarceration developing a plan to get her back.  His obsession focuses on self-improvement, with the motto Excelsior (“always upward” in Latin) at its pinnacle, believing that the arduous tragedy has produced a magical silver lining, so he can now be the man she always wanted.

But Pat is delusional, to put it mildly. He fully believes his wife will come back to him due to his weight loss and his sudden need to read her entire Freshman English syllabus. Further, he is incapable of monitoring his own speech, allowing agonizingly awkward questions and comments to spill from his mouth like foaming saliva from a rabid dog.  These moments are deeply amusing for the audience while painfully mortifying for everyone around him.

His mother Dolores and father Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) are besides themselves at every moment, managing an insane person that succumbs to bouts of bizarre violence and whose only friend is another patient Danny (Chris Tucker), who is constantly on the lam.  Then there is his Psychiatrist Dr. Cliff Patel (Anupam Kher), who employs both stern warning and comic relief in his supportive toolkit.

But it is dinner at Johnny (John Ortiz) and Veronica’s (Julia Stiles) that brings the greatest change for Pat.  There, he is confronted by Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), formerly of “Tiffany and Tommy”, who is herself recovering from the death of her husband by sleeping with any creature loosely regarded as human within a fifty mile radius.  Both form an instant connection and become foils for one another as the two attempt to wade past their own personal miseries and forge a lasting alliance.  Eventually, the two make a deal: in exchange for delivering a letter from Pat to his “wife”, Pat agrees to enter a dance competition with Tiffany, a prospect one step above apocalypse for Pat.

It is at this point that several key plots intertwine: Pat and Tiffany become close as they work continuously to prepare for their dance competition just as Pat and his father’s relationship ebbs and flows as Pat Sr.’s frightening obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles drives their relational renaissance.  While things seem to be going well for a limited time, there is always the sense that the other tap shoe will drop.

But as audiences observe the antics of this motley crew, it is impossible not to become invested in their lives.  The script is fantastic throughout, infusing reality within all the insanity and managing some perfect scenes that have spot-on dialogue and delivery (the scene where Tiffany confronts Pat Sr. is a classic moment in cinema, with infinite re-watchability.) There is a consistent balance between sadness and sobering humor, ever delivering a story audiences can relate to and enjoy.

The acting in the film is phenomenal from every angle.  Cooper delivers one of his best performances of his career, somehow both endearing and painfully frustrating.  While there is still somehow Bradley Cooper in the character, his ability to create such a nuanced persona is a testament to his tremendous talent.

Lawrence, for her part, harkens back to her earlier Oscar nominated role in Winter’s Bone while also infusing it with some lighter, more comedic delivery as found in much of the rest of her packed career. She stands toe to toe with Cooper and DeNiro and delivers exactly what is needed in this role.

DeNiro for his part is perfect.  He manages to balance his own brand of gruff charisma with a subtle yet terrifyingly hilarious insanity that blatantly has affected his children. And Weaver, as the quiet mother, offers what will likely be the most overlooked performance that instead should be praised to the hills.  A far cry from her terrifying turn in Animal Kingdom, Weaver is brilliantly understated yet manages facial expressions, brief but impactful dialogue, and subtle emotion with such stunning aplomb as to often find herself the most interesting character on screen.

Tucker, as an extension of the Weaver phenomenon, manages his relatively short screen time like gold coins to a popper, honing each word and syllable with comedic brilliance, never wasting a  single moment.  Kher, for his end, rounds out the group of minor characters that deliver major performances, having a few hysterical nuggets that reach new levels through his deadpan style.

Overall, SLP is one of the stronger films of the year.  While the ending of the film toes the line with predictability and even a hint of the anticlimactic, the overall feeling is positive.  It is ultimately a powerful comedy that packs a terrible punch of realism and doesn’t let up for the length of the film.  Leveraging a brilliant cast and a strong script, SLP offers much more than just the silver lining.

Rating: 8 – An expensive red wine and juicy steak

House at the End of the Street: A Good, Chilling Thriller That Offers Much More Than Expected

Director Mark Tonderai offers audiences something that other recent horror film directors in recent memory have been unable to provide: a solid, thrilling film.  While House is slow to climax and has a few rough edges, the second half of the film is both surprising and exhilarating, unleashing a series of twists (both expected and unexpected) that will keep observers on the edge of their seats.

Premise: After moving in next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents, a mother and daughter uncover a terrifying secret they never expected.  Result: Slow to get started but worth the ride once the film gets going.

This story begins typically, with a life changing event: Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) and her formerly estranged mother Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) move into an awesome house far away from the urban ghetto of a past life.  Elissa and Sarah are new to each other in reality, only united after Elissa’s father’s recent passing, and the growing pains are visible. Elissa is willful, an independent teen that never fails to remind everyone that she can take care of herself.

In this new town, the two stand out like clowns at a funeral, surrounded by hapless yuppies and trust fund brats like Tyler (Nolan Gerard Funk), a popular stud who wastes no time informing Elissa that he is horny (very smooooth!) But Elissa is not interested in Tyler; she is, however, quickly obsessed with Ryan (Max Thieriot), the boy literally next door that is living in the same home where his parents were murdered by his own sister, Carrie Anne, some years ago.  Despite the intense eeriness of this, she finds him adorable, with all his quirks and shy glances, and decides that she will love him, in spite of her mother’s profound horror.

But, of course, House is not some romantic comedy about teen angst and love in all the hilariously wrong places.  Instead, we are also introduced to Ryan’s secret: that is, his sister didn’t drown all those years ago after killing his parents; instead, he is keeping her locked down in his cellar, sedated and restrained to keep her from stalking the woods in search of new victims. While this aspect adds some anxiety to the first half of the film, audiences will unwittingly be playing the waiting game as Elissa befriends Jillian (Allie MacDonald), joins a band, seduces Ryan, and watches her mother and Sherriff Weaver (Gil Bellows) get on famously.

But just as it appears that Tonderai is leading observers down a path to nowhere, the film takes a sharp turn, delivering blow after blow and twist after twist.  The exhilaration and thrills mount as some truths are revealed about what really happened all those years back and what Carrie Ann really is.  Tonderai executes this with remarkable aplomb and manages to redeem the slow, drifting first half entirely.

Fortunately, both the story and the performances are believable, giving the film a credibility that has been lost in recent thrillers.  Lawrence constructs a character that we understand and recognize in so many teens today, lost and looking for that someone that sees the world through a similar lens.

Thieriot, for his part, plays this role a bit closer to the edge, walking a tight line between brilliance and chomping on a hearty serving of scenery.  But in the end, he pulls it off well enough to keep the film intact.

Shue is also quite good, delivering a woman with many flaws attempting to navigate the treacherous territory of surly teen girls.  And Bellows does well as the caring officer meant to protect the misunderstood boy and the pretty nurse that just moved into town with her daughter.

Overall, House is a good film.  While some of the twists that characterize the best parts of the film border on implausible, they are solid enough to shock and heighten the film’s natural anxiety.  In some ways, this film is better classified as a thriller than a horror film, but in the end, it is a good time either way.

Rating: 7 – A refreshing Champagne that a cute bartender comp’d you!

The Hunger Games: Certainly Fun and Filling, But Not Exactly What We Were Craving…

There is no denying that director Gary Ross’s (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) cinematic version of The Hunger Games, the first book in the Suzanne Collins epic trilogy, is exhilarating, beautiful, and worth seeing.  However, the chasm felt between the impact and emotional connection found in the books and that not felt in the film is vast and unsettling.  While the film was a fun ride, it is far from what it could and should have been.

Premise: Set in a dystopian future where the Capitol selects Tributes, a boy and girl, from each of the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, Katniss Everdeen is amongst those chosen for the latest match. Result: A strong, often thrilling film that never quite gets better than fun and exciting despite so much to work with.

It is often said that movies are rarely better than the books they are based on.  While a general rule of thumb, audiences time and time again hold out hope that the characters they know and love, the plots they followed intimately, and the emotional connections they enjoyed would be splashed on screen for their visual pleasure.  We long as cinephiles for film to bridge the gaps between our individual and collective imaginations and confirm our sentiments.  But this is far from a simple task and more often than not, audiences are left with disappointment rather than validation.

While it is certainly unfair to judge a film solely as it correlates to a book, especially as many observers will not have read the book (as in the case of The Hunger Games), to delink the two does a disservice to the artists who created the stories and visuals as well as to those who love them.  And so, in the case of The Hunger Games, we are given a story written with an elegance and intensity that inspired, rattled and thoroughly enraptured audiences but a film that although thoroughly enjoyable, failed to elicit the depth of human response it attempted to.

The film begins with a brief narrative explaining the Hunger Games along with an equally brief introduction to Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), the supposed heroine of the story and hunting partner Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth).  Far too abruptly, Ross rattles his audience around from scene to scene, giving audiences more of a headache than an introduction.  Suddenly, there is the Reaping, one of the most horrific events next to the Hunger Games, and yet it passes before our eyes almost unseen, too quickly to draw audiences in, and too quietly to be impactful.  Instead, the event looks more like extras from <insert non-descript post-apocalyptic film here> came together to film a separate scene that was left on the editing room floor, and with good reason. 

But Katniss and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are shuffled off to the Capital to take part in the Games.  All the emotion of the book is squandered on painfully short moments with little build up and no impact.  On the train, we have a sort of side show where alcoholic mentor Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) and uptight, clown-faced wrangler Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), prance around while Katniss and Peeta awkwardly take it all in.  But Ross misuses these scenes and makes us improperly frantic for what comes next: instead of anticipation based on the impending nightmare built subtly as we are introduced to these characters, observers are bored and look for anything more interesting.

Throughout the training scenes, several interesting elements are presented that start to heighten the intrigue and excitement.  We are introduced to Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley) who is master of the Hunger Games, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) who brings a new name to eerie and morose, and Ceasar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) who is the absolutely fabulous TV personality that interviews the Tributes (the name given to participants.) We also get brief introductions to other important Tributes like Rue (Amandla Stenberg) and Cato (Alexander Ludwig) as well as Katniss’ clothing designer and confidant Cinna (Lenny Kravitz).

Ross does a good job of creating anticipation in these scenes and the subsequent entrance into the Arena and the Games themselves are far from lacking in intensity.  The sets are quite impressive and the addition of views from other districts as well from the Control Room, add a riveting thrill to the events.  As time progresses, it is hard to remain anywhere but on the edge of your seat as the story takes unfolds.  Overall, the movement through these tricky scenes was effective and did what was needed to keep interest throughout.

But while this film did not lack for thrills, it was lacking in long-lasting emotional impact.  The very concept of this story is mortifying, yet the film makes it all seem like a game show without any of those underlying feelings.  The notable exception was a moment of connection with Rue and District 11, which was certainly heartfelt and finally gave some depth to the characters and the events.  But generally, this was lacking; unlike the book which juggled many complex events with the very real complicated emotions, the film came off as superficial, vying for better effects rather than profound connection.

The acting in this film was in whole quite strong and the casting just as effective. Lawrence is perfect as Katniss, embodying the nature of the girl always confused by her emotions, forced to grow too quickly. What was lacking was the direction and script needed to bring this to the next level.  Hutcherson had the same success and constraints, becoming a wonderful Peeta, someone we were deeply interested in, yet this without ever really seeing or feeling how deeply he felt for Katniss, a huge drawback.

Stanley Tucci stands out as the most enjoyable and interesting character, mastering Caesar’s nuances and mannerisms to both connect with fans and delight non-fans alike.  Each moment he was on-screen was satisfying, even if the rest of the scene was not. Harrelson was surprisingly good as Haymitch, proving that it is possible to improve on the book; Banks, on the other hand, was trapped in a role that goes nowhere as a seemingly drugged-out tooth fairy whose point is lost – in fairness, I think this may actually nail the character. Sutherland and Bentley are good additions although not standouts; nevertheless, both do honorably with the characters.

Overall, The Hunger Games is worth watching as an exhilarating thrill-ride.  It is fun and typically well-directed.  Its obvious downside is that it is typically flat in the important segments, becoming a one-dimensional action film when the theme and story are so much more. So while it is certainly fun, no amount of record-breaking can help it get to that next level: where audiences will leave feeling they got what they wanted.

Rating: 7- A refreshing Champagne that a cute bartender comp’d you!

Like Crazy: Love with an Expiration Date

Director Drake Doremus manages to craft an emotional picture of a couple fated to be with one another until life gets in the way.  The story is as beautiful as it is sobering, establishing a place for fate and reality to play their hands, with results that are not so easy to explain.

Premise: A British and American college student fall in love but must manage significant complications when they are separated when she’s banned from the U.S. after overstaying her visa. Result: A story about Love and how well, or not, it survives the circumstances of Life.

“Love is complicated” like “Gold is valuable” are premises that most people will understand, even those without the good fortune to have touched either.  Like Crazy, aptly named for the colloquial description of Love’s hold over a person, consuming him or her, and often causing the beholder to act irrationally, is a tale of just that sweet nightmare, that rapture born of desire so strong that no matter the circumstances is unbreakable.

The story begins with a love letter, written by Anna (Felicity Jones) to Jacob (Anton Yelchin); a letter so deep and devoted that she had to put a disclaimer, “Please don’t think I’m crazy.”  Jacob does not think she is crazy, or at least finds madness alluring enough to go on a date.  Doremus, with the help of his brilliant cast, instantly grounds this ethereal take in firm reality; the date is clumsy, filled with awkward pauses known best to those for whom returned attraction is unusual, and calculated seduction completely alien.  Anna and Jacob are connected, the chemistry palpable in each word said and unsaid, in each movement, in each breath.

Their love is strong enough to transform into a burgeoning relationship that like a flagrant fire blazes beautifully and uncontrollably.  So much so, that Anna overstays her visa plunging them into an immigration calamity that keeps them apart: she in London, he in California.  As time progresses, they try to maintain their relationship, missing calls, suffering loneliness, until ultimately he goes to visit her. 

However, round two proves troublesome.  Jacob mentions that he feels like he is on vacation rather than part of her life; there is deep love there, the type most people dream of, but there is also the ever-growing scent of something else, some sadness festering, like the decay of a moment passed.  Nevertheless, the two continue to work out a solution; her parents like him and are working with attorneys on their behalf and the love is true.

But, eventually, there is a break and the two attempt to move on with their lives.  Anna is becoming a successful writer/editor at a London magazine and Jacob’s business as a furniture designer of some sort is really taking off.  The two appear to find momentary happiness, in Simon (Charlie Bewley) and Sam (Jennifer Lawrence) respectively. However, no matter the distance, no matter the adoration bestowed on them by their new lovers or the success in their careers, there is an absence, a missing piece, a sullen isolation that nags at that them.  Time and time again they come together, out of hope, out of duty, out of desperation. 

Crazy Love is an homage to the dark and bright side of Love.  There is much beauty to be found in an affection that runs so deep that life is simply incomplete without the warmth of the other.  There are many objects and symbols of this love that manifest – the chair, the notebooks – in the intense effort that comes from two so in Love, a touching sense of fulfilling happiness.

Of course, there is also the Shadow of a Love damaged, broken by circumstances outside our control.  As time progresses, as each lover serves not only as the object of affection but as a referent for pain and despair, a saddening symbol of frustration, the relationship changes drastically, giving way to rage, to agony.  At times, the story seems to be a nightmare, of two loving souls bound by a potion that makes them want the other unconditionally, and so intensely that there is only madness.

The truth is in this tale is supported by a strong cast.  Yelchin and Jones are fantastic, mastering both silence and forceful passion as necessary.  The two have a powerful chemistry that they play with through overt action and the subtlety in delivery. 

Their lovers, Lawrence and Bewley add dramatically to the story, although clearly as supporting figures.  Lawrence manages to harness the pain of betrayal, of loving one who cannot respond in kind; Bewley is more comical, facing the same terrifying sadness, but in scenes that are hysterical in their painful awkwardness.  Anne’s parents, the brilliant Alex Kingston and Oliver Muirhead, are perfect in their understated brand of comedy.  Each scene is deliciously uncomfortable but also endearing, filling the audience with as much laughter as discomfort. 

In the end, Like Crazy is a beautiful story of the reality of Love, a spirit of fate and a symptom of Life. Strong direction, a sturdy script and a talented cast elevate this tale from bitter-sweet side show to memorable Love story, even if not the type of result one might dream of.  On this note, perhaps the most powerful, crowning achievement in this film is its ability to make the audience think, to make them fill in the blanks and determine for themselves what happened.  The answers we put forth may tell us a lot of what we think Love truly is.

Rating: 8 – An expensive red wine and juicy steak