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25 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :- Excellent!!! A cut above, WAY above, most other "teen" movies!, 5 March 2002 Author: bopdog from Cardiff, Wales
"Crazy/beautiful" is a wonderful movie. It is really far better than most teen movies. When I saw the trailers and TV spots for the movie last year, I was unimpressed. The impression I got was that the movie was another one of those teen jobs wherein the director and the actors all take themselves WAY too seriously! Kind of like a Charlie Sheen movie, back when he was having all those ego problems. (Sheen is much recovered, and much over himself now. He's a charming fellow these days, and a great talent.)I bought the DVD the other day, and am very happy that I did. I should have trusted that a talent such as Kirsten Dunst would not have placed herself in tripe. Sorry! This movie is thoughtfully written, sensitively acted, and very well directed and cut. I am not a teenager anymore (far away from it, in fact), so I am not impressed by hipness, hormonal chic, nor teen cool. Thus I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that "crazy/beautiful" is rich, touching, engaging, moving, uplifting, and extremely entertaining. Yaay!Hey Buena Vista marketing people--- please note that the movie you seemed to have presented via your trailers and such last year looked like crap! And yet the real movie, the one Kirsten and Whatshisname made, is sweet and marvelous!!! I know you marketing folks meant well, and all marketing is some form of experiment, but perhaps you can learn from this that the audiences needn't be sold cliched garbage to go see a film. In fact, the apparent cliches presented in the trailers kept me away. Thank goodness for DVD!Finally--- the DVD is also great. The "making of" segment is amazing, and worthy of it's own venue. The director's commentary with Dunst is also intriguing. It all adds to our enjoyment of the movie. Thanks, guys!
28 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :- Much like The Karate Kid caught a lot of people off-guard by its charm, likeability, and believability -- not the action aspect so much as the romance between Ralph Macchio and Elisabeth Shue -- crazy/beauti, 18 July 2001 Author: Chris Brown (chrisbrown6453@hotmail.com) from Fresno, Ca. USA
The reason would be the two leads, Kirsten Dunst (Interview with the Vampire, Bring It On) and Jay Hernandez (only having done a handful of TV and small movie work). What looks like the set-up of a cliché-filled storyline on the outside -- high-schoolers Dunst as the troubled daughter of a U.S. Senator, and Hernandez as the intelligent inner-city kid meet up and fall in love -- takes on a fresh twist (and "fresh" is a good thing -- especially in film today). With the dialogue seeming mostly improvisational, the romance is impressively convincing. Dunst is already familiar to film audiences -- making great strides at a very young age with Vampire -- but this could arguably be her finest turn. You do feel something for her character, as screwed up as she can be. But even "screwed up" people need love, too, and you do want her to succeed. And good performances apparently rubbed off on Hernandez as well, giving sensational insight into a conflicted character torn between duty to family and education versus his love for Dunst. The story does take a turn for the... well... crazy near the end but recovers nicely -- and without being too preachy or schmaltzy. Don't expect greatness, but don't be shocked if you like it.
21 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :- Fairly good teen drama., 29 June 2003 Author: Blueghost from the San Francisco Bay Area
I saw one promo for this film some time after I saw "Bring it On," and thought it was another Kirsten Dunst comedy.I was wrong, but pleasantly dissapointed. The thing about teenage movies is that the really good ones don't placate exclusively to the age bracket of which the film is about. "Crazy/Beautiful" focuses on the teenagers, but shows the flavors of the leads' respective cultures, and how they are able to combine both their intellect and emotions to overcome some very superficial barriers, which create profound rifts among human society.The overall theme vascillates by placing the ball into each of the leads court at various points in the film. This makes for some interesting interaction which, in the real world, I've personally observed. On this score the film is rather accurate.The film gets a touch melodramatic at points, and there's no one actor to really single out as all the leads have their moment of high energy at various points in the film.The film itself, because of the subject material, is somewhat lethargic, but does keep one's interest in its presentation.A definate thumbs up for a night's rental.
18 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :- Wild rich white schoolgirl and much poorer Latino form a relationship. Great acting. Sensitively portrayed, 26 November 2001 Author: Steve Baker (s.baker@iig.com.au) from Cairns Australia
In Crazy Beautiful Kirsten Dunst (Interview With A Vampire, Bring It On) plays Nicole a rich girl at high school who befriends a first generation Mexican lad called Carlos (Jay Hernandez). Nicole and Carlos hit it off in spite of Carlos's reservations about the wild (crazy/beautiful) Nicole. He's from a poor family and keen to do well at his studies. She's on a path of self destruction, at least academically, probably physically. Carlos hopes to go to the navy academy and become a pilot. Now this sounds fairly ho hum but is brought successfully to the screen by very strong acting performances from both Dunst and Hernandez and also by Bruce Davison who plays Nicole's Dad Tom. These characters are flawed and therefore interesting. The film is mindful of how complicated real people are. Nicole is a carouser, drunk or stoned most of the time. Jay is level headed but becomes overwhelmed by Nicole. Dad certainly doesn't think he has all of the answers. Crazy/Beautiful is inspired a little by the inter racial aspect of the relationship but much more by the veracity of the performances.4 Crazy Flys Out Of Five
14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :- It touches the heart. It holds the interest with old material rendered fresh by the cast., 22 December 2001 Author: Bill Stoll (bill@billstoll.com) from Tampa FL
This is a defining role for Kirsten Dunst. She demonstrates the talent to carry a film, from beginning to end. She was great as Lux in the Virgin Suicides, and demonstrated a penchant for comedy in Dick. As Nicole - she dominates in a dramatic role, arcing from crazy - to 'Crazy'; from beautiful and then to 'Beautiful' with Jay Hernandez as boyfriend and catalyst. We'll be seeing a lot more of Jay in the years upcoming too. No doubt about it. And Taryn Manning (best friend, Maddy) has a lot more to share with her growing legion of fans. She's a major contributor to this film's success.It touches the heart. It holds the interest with old material rendered fresh by a cast that jelled together. A superb romantic comedy for all ages. 7 / 10.
12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :- Nicely crafted teen movie--for a change, 19 November 2001 Author: mattymatt4ever from Jersey City, NJ
It's not often that we see a REAL teen movie nowadays. I live in Jersey City, so I personally can't relate to these teen flicks involving blonde airheads and guys who look like they just jumped off the pages of "Tiger Beat."In "Crazy/Beautiful" one of the main characters is a Hispanic--played beautifully by Jay Hernandez who I hope to see in more and more movies--which I CAN relate to. Most of the friends I know are of Hispanic origin, and it's very rare that you see a Hispanic as a lead in a film like this. And Jay's Hispanic character wasn't used merely as a tool in creating melodrama in a preachy "West Side Story" manner.Kirsten Dunst pretty much gives the best performance of her career. I like how they didn't put much makeup on her face, giving her a much more real look. I think Kirsten is one of the most beautiful young actresses in the biz, so I think she's beautiful no matter how little makeup she wears. So I'm not going to say it was a plus that they made her look "ugly." She didn't look ugly, but at the same time she looked like a real teenage girl and it added to her character.Bruce Davison has a great supporting role as Kirsten's father. Of course, in all teen movies, they feel it's needed to add a top-class, veteran actor to the cast to give it a touch of class. Well, that's one cliche of teen movies that I don't mind and Bruce was great, proving himself as one of our great, underrated actors.I like how Jay's character is never really discriminated against by Kirsten's white-collar Dad--who's a Congressman. None of this "You're dating a man of another race???" or "You're dating a man of low-class" crap. The film skips through all that, being that Jay is a well-to-do individual who has his head up high and wants to become a pilot. The Dad has nothing against that, in fact he wants to help him out, setting him up with an interview and everything. But he doesn't want him to see his daughter, because of the way she is. I don't want to give anything away, so I won't reveal what exactly her problem is. So I thought that was a good way of flipping this sub-genre on its head. Usually it's the father who doesn't want the daughter to date the guy, because he doesn't like who she's dating. In this case, he didn't want the two of them to go together, because he's concerned about the boyfriend.I only have a few problems with this film. First off, you never really get the feeling that Kirsten has a severe problem between the beginning and end. So it feels like her disorder was used strictly as a dramatic tool. Through most of the film, she's amazingly jovial. We see her drinking once in a while, but let's face it--what teen doesn't? And I thought--especially for a PG-13 film--they went overboard with the sex scenes. I'm not saying that they were explicit, but there was a good deal of them. I was thinking, as watching certain portions of the film, what my Dad said: "The love in most romantic movies nowadays seems to be based more on sex than love." Don't get me wrong, we do get a feel of the love--not lust--between Jay and Kirsten, but they could've trimmed the sex just a bit. It just came off in the wrong way.For those looking for an escape from most of the lame teen flicks that have been fed to us in previous years, I recommend you check this one out. It's a shame that this movie didn't reach a big audience in theaters. I really hope more people will go out and rent this film, because it's very good.My score: 7 (out of 10)
10 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :- Surprised me, 3 January 2005 Author: rjc739 from Philadelphia, United States
I caught five minutes of this then decided to watch more of it and I was pleasantly surprised at what a superb actress Kirsten Dunst is! She is so natural and at ease in front of a camera. The chemistry between her and the boyfriend is the best you will ever see and that's why I watched this movie. I felt like I was eavesdropping in on two young teenagers throughout the whole movie. The story is very simple and just chronicles the life of these two high-schoolers who fall in love by pure chance (the romance is instigated by Dunst and she does a great job). I think everyone will be able to relate to the characters and story in this movie. These are real-life characters and they are not overly stereotyped which was surprising, as well. The leading actor did a fantastic job, too. There is zero shock value thrown into this movie to try and put you on the edge of your seat which is something you don't find in Hollywood movies and which was really nice. Mostly every scene involves Kirsten and her boyfriend and they pull it off. There aren't many actors that can say that they can do that. This movie is entertaining throughout and will keep your attention. Already I like Kirsten more than I ever liked Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Daryl Hannah, Winona Ryder, Chistine Ricci, Catherine Zeta Jones, Kate Winslet, Sharon Stone, or any of these younger female celebrities. The direction in this movie is very good. If you want a real nice relaxing evening and you don't want to watch something with a lot of hype, drama, violence, stereotypes, people pitting each other against one another, etc. then I recommend this movie. I will definitely look for more of Kirsten in the future.
7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :- Nicely made romantic teen movie., 17 November 2005 Author: Boba_Fett1138 from Groningen, The Netherlands
This is a great executed romantic teen movie. Even though nothing in the story of course happens as a real surprise, the movie still knows how to create a believable and touching story about love with more than enough original touches in it.The main reason why the movie works so well is thanks to the two main actors of the movie; Kirsten Dunst and Jay Hernandez. Both are great in their roles and their love story in the movie is believable and realistic. Their cultural difference are nicely shown in the movie but their social class difference is perhaps a bit underdeveloped and underused. They could had done some nice things with this story element, so it's a bit of a missed opportunity for the movie.The story is nicely told and the stereotypical elements of a romantic teen movie are as much as possible avoided. It succeeds most of the time in this and because of that the movie is better than the average romantic teen comedy.It's a perfectly watchable movie mainly targeted towards teens, however also different age groups should be able to appreciate this movie and its love story. A recommendable movie but by no means a must see of course.7/10
6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :- A Nice Surprise, 1 July 2001 Author: Bruce L. Jones (bl.jones@charter.net) from Southern California
I was really pleasantly surprised by this film. It wasn't the usual dumb teen movie. It address some real-world issues from a modern perspective and managed to not make itself look silly doing it. The script was tightly written with just enough edge to give it a sense of reality without it being totally destroyed by it's kiddie rating.The usual teen movie makes fun of the adult world and laughably tries to make the teens somehow the center of the known universe. This is more real in it's approach, showing two very vulnerable young people on the verge of being thrust into that very real adult world and the issues they have in discovering themselves as near-adults through each other's eyes. There are quite a few relationships these days that mix cultures and this film handles a realistic look at some of the problems. I think it had to or risk the charge of being unrealistic. Still, there is more here, not just teen romance, though that is certainly painfully portrayed by an emotionally exposed Kirsten Dunst and the serious Jay Hernandez. It is also a film ultimately about the good and evil influences that tug at us all and the effects it can have on those around us. It managed to convey those issues fairly well given the censorship restraints it was under. Adding to a solid performance by Dunst and Hernandez is a fine cast, including Bruce Davidson and a deliciously unlikable Lucinda Jenney doing a great modern take on the evil stepmother. Taryn Manning as Dunst's best girlfriend nearly stole a couple of scenes and certainly bears watching in the future; there's light behind those big eyes. I see she also had a minor credit in the music score, which was very entertaining on it's own (and this said from an old guy). I also enjoyed the performance of Rolando Molina as Hernandez's brother, though it was nearly too stereotyped. He managed to make it just believable enough to be genuine. My major criticism would be the lack of subtitles for the considerable Spanish dialog. I for one found this too frustrating to forgive.All-in-all, it's more than worth the price of admission and I can agree with some other viewers that Dunst might deserve at least a nomination come awards time next year.
6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :- What teen movies should be..., 1 July 2001 Author: Contacted
For a long while now Ive been bombarded with teen movies that are crap. Written by people who forgot what it was like, less mature than teenagers themselves. Ive been waiting for a movie that was took itself seriously without being pretentious. That was mature and REAL. This is such a find. This movie is consistently good. Dialogue, Music, Acting, especially the cinematography and directing which just made the movie. It doesnt struggle to be hip or witty, theres no B.S.The story isn`t complicated but it works. It`s just about the love between two people, how it affects the both of them and the journey which Kirsten Dunst`s character goes through. If your tired of the mindless repetitive teen crap, see this movie and appreciate it.
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