At an exclusive interview with the movie’s director and lead actors, I gained insight into a film that fully encompasses the terrible, stunning and awkward moments of young love. Like emotional taffy, “Like Crazy,” is brutally honest in its illustration of beautiful, uncomfortable pieces of life. This movie tests how  far a connection between two people can go, before it snaps.

With equal parts therapy and whimsy, Director Drake Doremus sought to make a very personal film that would connect to everyone. “Anyone who is young and hasn’t had this, longs for something like this, and anyone who is having it, can feel it, and anyone who has had it in their past does,” Doremus explains. “Like Crazy” combines Anton Yelchin (Charlie Bartlett and Star Trek) and British screen actress Felicity Jones into a story about “people being twenty and being complicated,” Jones explained.

As a hauntingly accurate portrayal of the magical, painful and just plain stupid things we do in relationships, watching this movie feels like falling in love again for the first time, complete with all of the heart ache that comes with it.

“Like Crazy” closely follows two young college students, one from each side of the Atlantic, over several years of their relationship. From their adorably awkward first date through all of possible trials and tribulations that come with not being allowed to always be with the person you love most, you see it all. With chemistry that is tangible and laughter that is hypnotic, Yelchin and Jones take the audience on a journey filled with all of the pushes and pulls of love bursting at its seams. The main characters Jacob and Anna continuously fight to stay together, but life gets in the way.

Doremus went through a nearly identical experience several years ago and explained that “sharing [this movie] with an audience is therapeutic.” He also incorporated his background with improvisation into the film’s production. The entire movie was sparsely outlined and it was up to Yelchin and Jones to find the most truthful moments. When asked about the vast amount of vulnerability these characters needed to display, Jones stated “we just sort of did it and got on with it and were just completely immersed in it, its only when we got to Sundance that I was like ‘Oh no, people are actually going to watch it.’” Most of the believability resulted from “not knowing what the other is going to do” Jones added.

Much of the success of this movie results from the playfulness between the actors and director. When asked about the improvisational work, Yelchin joked about having “so much homework.” When asked about their rehearsal and collaboration processes, all three stressed the importance of whiskey in making their film. Most of the interview was interwoven with giggles, impersonations of Jones’s accent and innuendos. Their light-heartedness is reflected in their characters, which brings an even sharper contrast to their strife. When initially asked about the film, Doremus claimed, “[It’s about] love at the wrong time, like all my other movies…by time I’m fifty, people will be DYING.”

In dealing with a movie that is very politically charged, Doremus wanted to emphasize that America is not at fault for the movie’s main conflict, and in fact, “the bad guy is love,” to which Yelchin quickly retorted, “Fuck that…” The movie’s most famous quote adequately reflects the changes Jacob and Anna go through as a result: “I thought I understood it. But I didn’t. Only the smudgeness of it, the eagerness of it, the idea of it. Of you and me.”

“Like Crazy” shows the build up of the type of relationship we all wish to have in heart-wrenchingly realistic detail, as well as every crack it endures when put through some of life’s toughest pressures. It is both cynical and optimistic. Light-hearted and heart breaking. For anyone who has ever longed to have an unbreakable connection with someone, and even more for those who have had it and lost it.

“Like Crazy,” award winner at the Sundance Film Festival, is now in theaters!

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