crazy/beautiful (2001)
*** out of ****
Actors: Kirsten Dunst, Jay Hernandez, Bruce Davidson, Taryn Manning, and Lucinda Jenney
Directed by: John Stockwell
Rated PG-13 for language, and strong sensuality


The only thing that really drew me to "crazy/beautiful" in the first place was the appearance of one of the best young actresses in Hollywood, Kirsten Dunst. Admittedly, I thought the film would be a dud. Everything leading up to the initial release was tepid: the trailer, the tv spots, everything. They all made the film out to be something that it's really not: another teen romance with nothing but a bunch of actors with pretty faces and no acting ability whatsoever.

But lately, teen films have been surprising me. It first started this year with "Sugar and Spice," a film that took the most popular girl in the school, got her pregnant, and made her rob banks. It broke the teen movie mold, and perhaps that's why it failed at the box office. "Save the Last Dance" was a box office hit, and it too shattered some conventions, while also embracing others. "crazy/beautiful" is latest teen-aimed film and do something different with it. While it still does the whole "boy meets girl, boy looses girl, boy gets girl back" thing, it's all in the presentation, which is drastically different than your average post-pubescent fare.

There are also some characters in the film that break away from the teen movie realm. I mean how often do you actually see a character in one of these films that has a problem bigger than having a zit before their first date? In "crazy/beautiful", Kirsten Dunst plays a girl with much bigger problems than that. After loosing her mother, she now lives with her Congressman father (Bruce Davidson, "X-Men") and her witchy stepmother (Lucinda Jenney, "Thirteen Days"). Her father doesn't give her enough attention, and her stepmother looks down upon her.

Why does her stepmother look down upon her? Maybe it could be the smoking, the drugs, the alcohol, the less-than-desirable friends. Just maybe. But things turn around for Nicole when she meets Carlos (Jay Hernandez), a kid from the wrong side of the tracks but with a good head on his shoulders. He rides the bus two hours from his inner city home everyday so he can go to a good school. It's there where he meets Nicole, and inevitably falls in love with her, only to the dismay of his mother and her father.

Her father has no objections to Carlos, it's the objections that he has to his daughter that won't let him let Carlos see her. You see, Carlos wants to go to the Naval Academy and Nicole's father, being in a position of power, was going to help him out. He realizes that the kid is level-headed, but thinks that if he keeps up his fling with Nicole, everything will be ruined.

A lot of this sounds familiar, and there is no doubt that it is. One thing that I liked though, is that the filmmakers changed the roles around a little bit. The privileged kid is always the "good kid". They may have their moments of immorality, but overall, they are good kids. The "other side of the tracks" kid is always brash, irrational, and self destructive. Here, though, Nicole is the brash, irrational, and self destructive one and Carlos is the good kid.

The look of the film is significantly different than that of "10 Things I Hate About You" (a good film in it's own rite) or "She's All That" (a bad film in it's own rite). It actually resembles Payback more than either of those. The look isn't happy and chipper, it's down-trodden. Steely blues, and some clever editing characterize the look and feel of "crazy/beautiful."

There are two things that make this romance work. One is the above average writing that doesn't treat it's intended audience like children. It's a little more grown up in that it deals with some heavier issues such as family death, alcoholism, drugs, things that actually effect teenagers.

The other is the explosive performances from the leads. Kirsten Dunst, who first amazed us at age 11 in "Interview with the Vampire", is pretty much perfect here. This is a role unlike the others ones that she has picked out. Here she has greasy hair and oily skin, but she gives off a carefree air. She gives Nicole more depth than she deserves and doesn't glam it up at all (kind of reminds me of Ellen Burstyn in last year's "Requiem For a Dream").

Newcomer Jay Hernandez is a good match for her in talent. The up and coming heartthrob plays his role very well and has some considerable chemistry with his female costar. Perhaps more teen films will follow in the footsteps of "crazy/beautiful" and take more chances and try to break away from the mold. This film is viturally humorless and it's all the better for it. No pratfalls, no corny jokes. It's just an honest romance between to very likeable characters. The film most likely won't win any awards, but it's nice to know that there are filmmakers out there who don't underestimate the power of a teenage mind.

-Brian Jones, 2001