Like Crazy won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and young people, particularly those separated by time and distance, might well identify with its sincere emotions. A further draw for the target audience are up-and-coming star Felicity Jones (Chalet Girl), and the cute-as-a-button Russian-born, American actor Anton Yelchin (Charlie Bartlett Star Trek (2009) as the two lovers separated by visas. Others, however, might find the film a bit contrived and a tad tedious: a depressing Blue Valentine for the twenty-something set.

Anna (Jones) is a pretty, petite British girl who writes pretentious poetry and is studying journalism and media (what else?) in Los Angeles. Jacob (Anton Yelchin) is an adorable, young American carpenter who makes rudimentary, clunky chairs, so it’s not clear why he’s in her class.

Suffice it to say, he is and that’s how they meet. Their eyes lock; they have a date; go running on the beach; fall in love and never want to part. And they don’t part, despite the expiry date on Anna’s student visa and a plane ticket back to England paid for by her parents. Instead, Anna and Jacob spend a summer of love in California that both will live to regret.

Anna eventually returns to England for a wedding, but when she tries to return to Los Angeles, US immigration officers note her visa violation and ship her back to England. The rest of the film is a chronicle of their efforts (including marriage) to live together legally. But the time apart, developing careers (no unpaid internships here), changing circumstances and new lovers, put their relationship to the test.

The film is well acted, but there’s something distancing and pointless about the concept of any story that leaves us wondering who the two lovers will end up with. How do we know how they feel? After investing so much time and emotion on the central romance, the subsequent boyfriend (Charlie Bawley) and girlfriend, Sam (Jennifer Lawrence) will always seem like tacked on alternatives. And to make matters more difficult, both the alternative lovers are equally good looking, adoring, unobjectionable and flawless. Are they more stable alternatives or are they just more attractive because they are conveniently present without complications?

Perhaps if Anna or Jacob were unhappy in his or her job that would tip the balance. But Anna, a magazine subeditor, keeps getting promoted by an improbably selfless boss, and Jacob runs an exclusive furniture business with his loyal assistant, and lover, Sam.

Like Crazy leaves us to ponder the unknowable about Anna and Jacob’s relationship, which is seldom very involving. Other than a strong physical attraction, it’s not obvious why they fell in love to begin with (you have to take their word for it) or how strongly they feel about their new lovers. This puts you at a loss to figure out what direction they should take in the future. And by the end, you might be beyond caring.