Nicole, who at first seems to be just a wild, rebellious brat, turns out to be far deeper and more emotionally unsettled than one would ever imagine. Stockwell slowly peels away the layers of the two main characters and their families to reveal subterranean shearing forces that will act to tear them apart. Just when you think it is going to be a real yawner, things begin to get complicated. They flirt, act silly, have sex, fall in love and create beautiful romantic images on the beach. It starts out as your standard boy-meets-girl love story. Stockwell turns in an impressive directorial effort with a story that is much more complex than it seems at first blush.
The use of so many ordinary (not professional actors) high school students in the film gives it a very genuine look and feel. By comparison, Kirsten Dunst is a jaded veteran. Many of the Latino actors were cast from a local high school, so they are in their first film. Likewise for Jay Hernandez and Taryn Manning. For director John Stockwell, it is only his second feature film. For writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, this is their first feature film screenplay. The story is nothing new, but the presentation is remarkably good, with far greater maturity than one would expect from a high school flick.This film is exceptional considering its limited budget and the fact that most of the major players have very little experience at this level. In fact, this might be a watershed role for her, marking her transition from teen roles to adult roles.Dunst plays Nicole Oakley, a troubled teenager from a privileged family who falls in love with Carlos (Jay Hernandez), a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. However, this film turned out to be a pleasant departure from the perky candy coated parts Dunst has played in the past. "I hesitated to see this film because having seen my share of Kristen Dunst movies, I wasn't sure I was ready for another teen sugar attack.
I thought this was an excellent movie and I hope you do too." Jay Hernandez gave an excellent performance as well as the young, determined Latino boy in love. This movie was one of the most emotional pieces Kirsten Dunst has ever been in and it describes a situation far beyond the comprehension of anyone who was not actually in one. The two fall madly in love and a number of situations fall into play because of this. When Carlos finds himself in the position in which he must choose between Nicole and his school work, he chooses her. Nicole falls strangely in love with Carlos and believes that they should always be together. When Carlos meets Nicole for the first time, he finds her "scary" because she is extremely unpredictable with her wild behavior. She has no college ambition, she likes to get lost in wide variety of drugs and sexual activities and she swears she will never trust anyone again after her mother's suicide. Nicole is a disgruntled 17-year-old whose priorities include finding distractions to cope with the loss of her mother. Carlos is a straight-A-student whose priorities are to graduate and gain acceptance into the naval academy. "Crazy/Beautiful is a groundbreaking emotional story about two young lovers, Carlos(Jay Hernandez) and Nicole(Kirsten Dunst), on the opposite sides of the spectrum. Dunst deserves quite a lot of praise for the best performance of her career."
It's a shame that more people won't give this film a chance since it was marketed so poorly, because this one is a true gem. By the end of the film, I cared about what happened to these "ill-fated lovers", and I found the conclusion to be both realistic and emotional. The characters are fresh and complex.far from the cardboard cutout characters in recent romance films. Well, Crazy/Beautiful does showcase some amazing acting talent from Kirsten Dunst, and the script is so original and complicated, that each little turn you're seeing something that you wouldn't expect from a film of this genre. That's not a bad 's just that these kinds of films do not ever showcase great acting talent. If any of you have seen Mad Love with Drew Barrymore, a movie that is better than you would think, well, that's what I thought I was going to get. "The trailer for Crazy/Beautiful made this film look like it was going to be just another doomed teen romance film.