Like Crazy is a 2011 American romantic drama film starring Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, and Jennifer Lawrence. The film tells the story of Anna (Jones), a British exchange student who falls in love with an American student, Jacob (Yelchin), only to be separated from him when she is denied re-entry into the United States after staying in the country longer than her student visa allows.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Zig-zagged. The leads find it very difficult to maintain a long-distance relationship, and it leads them to indiscretions with other people multiple times; however, they inevitably start missing the other and rekindle the relationship.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Anna's parents grill her about her relationship with Jacob on their first dinner together.
- Bittersweet Ending: Anna and Jacob can finally stay together as a married couple, but their relationship leaves multiple broken hearts in its wake, and their reunion is awkward and strained, marred by all the hurts and indiscretions they've inflicted on each other.
- Career Versus Man: Another pull for Anna in London is that she's worked her way into her dream job as a journalism editor. Given this is before permanently remote work became common, she has to give it up and search among lackluster jobs once she finally reunites with Jacob. No discussion is made about whether Jacob can run his own small business from London.
- Citizenship Marriage: Subverted. After Anna overstays her student visa and is banned from entering the U.S., she and Jacob get married in an attempt to get the ban lifted, but they still have to wait six months to see each other, and when the ban is finally lifted both Anna and Jacob have started seeing other people.
- Disposable Fiancé: Both Samantha and Simon are cast aside when Anna and Jacob realize that they can't stay apart. Samantha is dumped twice.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Per visa laws, Anna is effectively banned from the United States for overstaying her visa for a summer.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: When Jacob and Anna first get together, there's a montage of them enjoying falling in love and going on their first dates. They reminisce on these moments at the end, when it's clear their relationship might be beyond repair.
- Fourth-Date Marriage:
- Jacob and Anna get married after only really spending a summer together and most of their time long-distance (and separated, at that). Subverted in that it's only so that she has an easier time getting a visa.
- Simon proposes to Anna after just six months of dating, though it's clear she hasn't moved on from Jacob.
- Insecure Love Interest: Jacob and Anna's relationship falls apart in the second act because they can't reconcile the fact that they both were involved with other people during their separation.
- Irony: Anna only overstays her visa because she and Jacob can't stand to be apart even for a short amount of time. As a consequence, they end up forcibly separated for months at a time.
- Long-Distance Relationship: Jacob and Anna first meet in the US while she's attending university there. However, when she's deported for overstaying her student visa, they struggle maintain to things while she's in the UK.
- Love Makes You Stupid: The entire plot could have been avoided if Jacob and Anna had just respected the limitations of the student visa and waited to reunite.
- Maybe Ever After: It's unclear at the end if Jacob and Anna will stay together.
- Meet Cute: Anna leaves a rambling note under Jacob's windshield wiper after giving him the eyes in class.
- No Antagonist: Aside from some obnoxious bureaucracy, there's no antagonist in the film.
- Poorly Timed Confession: On the very first night he meets her parents (who clearly aren't impressed by him), Simon proposes to Anna after six months of dating... right in front of them, unexpectedly. He isn't aware that Anna was recently offered a new visa, and can finally reunite with Jacob.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Jacob and Anna go to great lengths to get her a new visa, and in the end they can finally reunite as a couple, at the cost of everything: Anna loses her dream job, both of their other partners are left heartbroken, and in the end they've suffered through so much unhappiness and hurt that it may be unlikely they can ever get back to their old feelings.
- Race for Your Love: In a twist on the usual concept, Jacob races through the airport for Anna... because she's been detained by customs.
- Second-Act Breakup: After Jacob and Anna fail to appeal her visa ban, they quickly devolve into arguing and jealousy, leading them to break up and date different people.
- Tempting Fate: During their vows, Jacob and Anna affirm that they will never allow anything to destroy their feelings for each other. They spend the rest of the film letting jealousy, insecurity, and distance erode their love and trust.
- Wrong-Name Outburst: Jacob accidentally calling Samantha by Anna's name is the first sign that he's clearly not over the latter.
