Young, star-crossed love. Every Sundance there’s never a shortage of coverage on the subject. This year there’s Submarine and Like Crazy, directed by Richard Ayoade and Drake Doremus, respectively. The first’s about teens in love, the second’s about twenty-somethings in love. Where the first is very written (by Ayoade from the Joe Dunthorne novel), channeling Wes Anderson-like factoids among creative hypothetical scenarios, the second is mostly improvised, full of the ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ that populate every conversation you’ve ever had with the girl you don’t date anymore. Where the first offers first-person narration and a very personal point of view, the second observes its leads as objectively as possible.
In fact, both films dive so deep into their respective methods of narration that they round the bend and meet back up, failing to fully invest those watching into the conflicts at hand. Though there be inspired scenes, lines and frames on display in both well-made features, neither stands out from the slew of Park City-romances past.
Submarine begins with our hero Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) imagining the reaction of his unexpected death by the local community, introducing the hyperbolic mind of this young man. Sadly, young Oliver’s imagination never gets as creative again. His mom (Sally Hawkins), tired of his marine biologist dad’s (Noah Taylor) depressed sulking, considers rekindling a past relationship with a ridiculous karate-kicking motivational speaker, played with no boundaries, and to no ultimate purpose, by the usually-great Paddy Considine.
Oliver falls for a mischievous rebellious girl (Yasmin Paige) who will turn soft, forcing Oliver to question his intentions for loving her in the first place. Moments of consciousness like this promise more than the film can deliver. Oliver’s awkward intelligence is never met with any kind of emotional change. Does Oliver grow up at the end of this film? Does he choose to become comfortable with who he is? It seems the film doesn’t know.
Though Like Crazy be comfortable in its ambiguity, it’s never clear who these young people up on the screen are or what exactly makes them tick. Opening with their courtship, a “falling in love” montage occurs less than 5 minutes in. Seconds later young Anna (Felicity Jones) makes a crucial mistake that will haunt the rest of the film. It’s an honest, passionate decision that rings true, thanks in large part to the natural chemistry between Anton Yelchin, who plays Jacob, and Ms. Jones. But chemistry only gets you so far, and before long it runs out of steam. Nearly all of the dialogue in the film is devoted to the struggles of a long-distance relationship. Think Going The Distance with less jokes and a solid, piano-heavy score by Dustin O’Halloran instead of cheap pop fare.
Both films are clearly inspired by the fish-tank world of the adolescent (Ayoade directly alludes to as much far too many times), so concentrated they are. If only either of their worlds were as funny or as interesting.
Submarine:
Like Crazy:
Have you heard of these films? Excited to see them in theaters?