‘Like Crazy’: One of the great film romances | 3 ½ stars

lt;span class=l_infogt;Rated PG-13 | Time: 1:29lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;lt;/spangt;Early in amp;#x93;Like Crazy,amp;#x94; Jacob gives girlfriend Anna a bracelet with the inscription amp;#x93;patience.amp;#x94; lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;Not only is the item emblematic of their long-distance relationship, but it offers the same advice to viewers. If they patiently invest in this simple, subtle and disarmingly powerful movie, the unfolding experience proves well worth it. The recent Sundance winner has the potential to be deemed among this generationamp;#x92;s great romantic movies.lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;amp;#x93;Like Crazyamp;#x94; is a candid look at a young coupleamp;#x92;s love affair, from their carefree college days in Los Angeles through their maturing 20s in London. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;Jacob (Anton Yelchin) is an American studying furniture design who shares a class with Anna (Felicity Jones), an aspiring British journalist. Anna makes the first move, leaving a complicated note on his windshield with the proviso, amp;#x93;Please donamp;#x92;t think Iamp;#x92;m a nutcase amp;#x85;amp;#x94;lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;Charmed by the message, Jacob admits, amp;#x93;It was a good disclaimer.amp;#x94; lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;Having planned a return to England once her visa expires, Anna instead decides to overstay her welcome to spend the summer with Jacob. The movie is a snapshot that often leaps in months (and perhaps years) as the two attempt to keep their passionate union going when proximity and bureaucracy threaten to keep them apart.lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;These individuals donamp;#x92;t radiate hot-and-heavy chemistry together so much as a legitimate believability. Heamp;#x92;s a bit more earthy, sheamp;#x92;s more worldly. Heamp;#x92;s prone to flashes of jealousy, she to impetuous decisions. The curly topped Yelchin (the hero of the recent amp;#x93;Fright Nightamp;#x94; remake) gets by on pure likability, even when his characteramp;#x92;s motivations are murky. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;amp;#x93;I donamp;#x92;t feel like Iamp;#x92;m part of your life. I feel like Iamp;#x92;m on vacation,amp;#x94; he says after moving in to Annaamp;#x92;s London flat. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;The chipper Jones (last seen in amp;#x93;The Tempestamp;#x94;) delivers a more rounded performance. Sheamp;#x92;s the type of character who falls madly in love but never stops to ask why with this guy. The actress is quite a find, managing to concurrently possess a girl-next-door grounding and a stepped-out-of-a-magazine gorgeousness. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;Director Drake Doremus (who also co-wrote the script with Ben York Jones) reportedly encouraged a great deal of improvising from the actors, providing an outline and letting them fill in the verbal details. He based much of the setup on the experience of courting his Austrian wife. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;Despite the keep-it-loose quality to the acting, the filmmaking is a bit more calculated. Cinematographer John Guleserian leans on the headache-inducing shaky cam too often in the early scenes. Eventually, he and editor Jonathan Alberts start finding new ways to make jarring transitions more palatable. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;One sequence denoting the passage of time presents a rapid montage of the sleeping couple in each dayamp;#x92;s different cuddling position. Itamp;#x92;s a clever touch that comes across like a G-rated Kama Sutra. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;Jacob and Annaamp;#x92;s wordless last scene will likely prove divisive with audiences. Similar to amp;#x93;Lost in Translation,amp;#x94; their ambiguous interaction seems more revealing by what isnamp;#x92;t said (or heard) than what is. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;Only in movies do romances conclude on a happy note, when everyone is young and in love, and all their conflicts of the past 90 minutes are utterly resolved. But this bittersweet film understands that in real life, relationships donamp;#x92;t just freeze when the credits roll. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt; lt;span class=tagline_creditgt;Jon Niccum, Special to The Starlt;/spangt;