Kapitel 354: Can't stop raving about it

The New York Times, ninety points!

Variety, ninety points!

The day after the premiere of "Like Crazy", the official program of the Sundance Film Festival promptly published reviews from critics about the film, and at the forefront were the comments from these two top-tier authoritative media outlets.

Both media outlets awarded a stunning ninety points, which was eye-catching. For a small-scale romantic film, this achievement was almost unbelievable. It could be compared to the remarkable "Blue Valentine" from the previous year and established the foundation for the media's assessment of "Like Crazy". The comments from The New York Times and "Variety" garnered the approval of many fellow critics.

Sundance's official commentary expressed a clear fondness for the work, stating, "The actors are well-dressed, but the rest of the film is laid bare, unashamedly presenting the authentic face of love. This love story makes other similar works appear so shallow, uninteresting, and dull."

This official affirmation came from the official program and, furthermore, Sundance's official commentary awarded a perfect score of one hundred, making it the first perfect score given by the festival since its opening. This detail alone showcased their admiration and praise for "Like Crazy".

In an instant, "Like Crazy" became the top contender for the Grand Jury Prize of the year!

Sundance wasn't the only one giving a perfect score of one hundred. Vanity Fair and USA Today both awarded perfect scores as well.

Claude Puig, writing for Vanity Fair, stated, "This is a unique and astonishing low-budget independent film, capable of making heavily invested large-scale films feel ashamed. The power of time, the oppression of space, the torrent of life, all take on supporting roles throughout the film. Love, only love. Drake Doremus has crafted a beautiful film that is both touching and heart-rending."

Catherine Langworth of USA Today expressed, "Doremus showcases his delicate touch on emotions and vivid interpretation of reality in this work, reflecting surging introspection. However, without the magnificent and effortless performances of the two leads, along with the intense and authentic chemistry between them, the success of this film would have been impossible."

Three perfect scores, a resounding three perfect scores. "Like Crazy" undoubtedly became the most favorably reviewed work since the opening of the Sundance Festival this year. But it didn't end there. James Bernard of The Village Voice awarded it a score of ninety-five.

In his commentary, James believed, "To be concise, "Like Crazy" tells a simple and pure fact: love can be maddening, but sometimes, just like the essence of life, love hurts. Drake Doremus has portrayed a delicate and genuine story, rekindling fond memories of "Blue Valentine" and "Brokeback Mountain"."

Praise, praise, praise! A unanimous chorus of praise pushed "Like Crazy" to an astonishing peak of word-of-mouth reputation. In total, twelve media outlets' reviews were published in the Sundance official program. Among them, nine provided positive reviews, two offered neutral opinions, and only one gave a negative review.

This negative review came from Lisa Shazbaum of Entertainment Weekly.

Perceptive individuals could note that Lisa didn't hold favorable views of both "Buried" and "The Pacific". She gave them both negative reviews. Regardless of whether she had any personal grievances with Renly Hall, it was evident that Lisa didn't harbor much favor towards this rising acting newcomer.

"Similar to Doremus' 2010 debut at Sundance with "Douchebag", the film presents an impressively high standard in terms of performance. The effortless acting becomes a bright spot on the screen, and the chemistry between the two actors is commendable."

However, the work itself seemed to be like a Wes Anderson trip, as if Wes Anderson had taken drugs. In order to write a semester-end paper on "Garden State", in order to study Sophia Coppola's films, countless classic works had been borrowed from for various scenes, elements, and creativity. It was a hodgepodge of YouTube music videos.

A complete disaster."

Lisa was clearly not holding back; she mercilessly tore apart the film, finding it utterly worthless. She even used YouTube to mock Drake's amateurism, her critique cutting and incisive, giving it a score of thirty. Her perspective was crystal clear.

However, this time, Lisa was standing alone. Among the twelve reviews published in the official Sundance program, she was the sole dissenter and the only one whose score fell below the passing mark. Perhaps after "Like Crazy" was released nationwide, she might find like-minded companions. But at Sundance for now, other media outlets were showering praise. Still, Lisa and everyone else reached a consensus about one aspect: the performances of the actors.

Even amidst Lisa's scathing critique, she still acknowledged the actors' performances and even mentioned that as the "sole bright spot."

Compared to Lisa, the praises from other critics were even more fervent and passionate. More accurately, the focus of most critics' reviews, compared to "Like Crazy" as a whole, centered on the performances of the actors, including those two neutral reviews.

Mary Grovana from The New Yorker only gave a score of sixty, expressing limited appreciation for the film itself, considering it just barely reached a passing level. However, her attitude towards the actors was entirely different.

"Felicity Jones and Renly Hall have delivered astonishing performances in this film.

Jones' performance carries a childlike innocence and simplicity, vividly portraying the fragility and madness of love. Hall is undoubtedly the most dazzling highlight on the entire screen—awkward, focused, inexperienced, hesitant, sorrowful, fanatical. His eyes hold the world within them, and when the gaze dims, the world collapses.

Both actors, especially Hall, have injected a magical power into the film."

It's hard to imagine that Mary only gave a score of sixty. Just by reading this segment of the review, one might think she had given it a perfect score. From this aspect, it's also clear that Mary has high expectations and offers strong commendations for the actors' performances.

The reviewer who gave a score of sixty-five shared the same sentiment. Rene Rodriguez from the Chicago Tribune commented on the film, saying, "I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would be interested in such a mawkish, miserly, saccharine half-and-half teen romance." He even ridiculed this film to be worse than Drew Barrymore's sweet romantic comedy, "At least the latter can make you laugh yourself to sleep.'"

However, Rene praised the performances of the two actors, "The chemistry between them makes one believe that this love story is genuinely happening. Especially for Hall, with his solo performance, he propels the emotional shifts and the passage of time throughout the entire film. Following "Buried", he once again proves his absolute talent."

Additionally, Rene mentioned Jennifer Lawrence, "Her delicate performance in such a confined space is praiseworthy." It's evident that Rene highly praised the overall level of acting in the film.

This truly is an interesting phenomenon.

When it comes to a romance film, people are always most focused on the "romance" itself, be it romantic or tragic, and so on. Works like "(500) Days of Summer" and "Blue Valentine" are no exceptions, even the renowned ones like "Annie Hall" and "When Harry Met Sally".

It's not that the performances in romance films aren't excellent; Diane Keaton won an Oscar for Best Actress with "Annie Hall" after all. Rather, it's that romance films are constrained by their themes and frameworks, limiting the space for performances.

Taking "Brokeback Mountain" as an example, the script allowed the two leads ample space for internal emotional struggles, outlining their emotional changes. Sacrificing the romantic elements of the romance film, it focused on the characters' psychological states. In fact, this already transcended the scope of romance films and should be classified as drama.

Therefore, it's not an easy task for pure romance films to highlight the performances of the actors.

However, now "Like Crazy" has successfully broken free from these limitations. The performances of the two actors have become the highlight of the entire work. Except for one negative review and two neutral ones, the other praises in the official program are overwhelmingly positive.

"Genius! Genius! Genius! Renly Hall has once again amazed the big screen! Just based on the heartbreaking look in his eyes in the final scene of the film, Hall's performance is enough to secure him a spot among the top ten performances of the year! Moreover, that isn't even Hall's best performance in the film. His expressions, movements, gaze, and lines all come together seamlessly in Hall's performance, reaching the pinnacle of sweetness, bitterness, and helplessness.

Watching Hall's performance is a delight. This is an entirely different role, a completely different style of performance, yet he always gives the character a distinct texture, blurring the boundaries of acting between his personal charm and the character's personality. Jones and Lawrence's performances are excellent, even exceptionally so, but compared to Hall, they fall slightly short. Just to witness this performance, I'm willing to watch this film again.

If someone were to say that Hall's performance in "Like Crazy" is more challenging than "Buried", I wouldn't agree. However, Hall has showcased his profound acting skills in both works. Personally, I prefer Hall's performance in "Like Crazy". You can feel his heightened control; his performance flows naturally, subtly molding the character in every gesture and movement. It's hard to imagine this level of mastery from a twenty-one-year-old.

This is an incredibly engaging film. The performances of the actors bring out the film's splendid qualities. Jones and Lawrence portray the vulnerability of their characters in love while also showing their resilience in striving to change their lives. The performances of these two young actresses undeniably bring their characters to life. However, the true standout of the film is undoubtedly Hall. The unique Hall, in several scenes, not only delivers Oscar-worthy performances but also performs at the level of a generation's leading figure."

...

Praise was overflowing!