Crazy/Beautiful (2001)

At Pacific Palisades High, a poor Latino falls hard for a troubled girl from an affluent neighborhood.

Director:

John Stockwell

Writers:

Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi

Stars:

Kirsten Dunst, Jay Hernandez, Bruce Davison

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirsten Dunst	...	Nicole Oakley
Jay Hernandez	...	Carlos Nuñez
Bruce Davison	...	Tom Oakley
Herman Osorio	...	Luis
Miguel Castro	...	Eddie
Tommy De La Cruz	...	Victor
Rolando Molina	...	Hector
Soledad St. Hilaire	...	Mrs. Nunez
Lucinda Jenney	...	Courtney Oakley
Taryn Manning	...	Maddy
Richard Steinmetz	...	Coach Bauer
Ana Argueta	...	Rosa
Neil Looy	...	Jimmy - The Pilot
Marion Moseley	...	Morgan Oakley
Mike Jones	...	Dr. Linehan

Storyline

Jay Hernandez stars as Carlos Nunez, a poor but athletically gifted Latino teenager who endures a two-hour bus ride every day from East L.A. to attend the posh, wealthy Pacific Palisades High School in Los Angeles on a football scholarship. A straight-A student, Carlos is focused and driven, but his future is cast in doubt when he becomes the flirtation target of spoiled, self-destructive bad girl Nicole Oakley (Kirsten Dunst), who's the daughter of a prominent congressman (Bruce Davison). When his friends, family, and even Nicole's own father oppose the romance for Carlos' sake, he chooses to ignore their advice and stubbornly pursues his relationship with Nicole, whose feelings grow from simple physical attraction to something much deeper.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | curvacious woman | self destructiveness | teenage angst | teenage rebel | 

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Taglines:

When it's real. When it's right. Don't let anything stand in your way.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving teens, drug/alcohol content, sexuality & language

Details

Official Sites:

Touchstone

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

About 17

Filming Locations:

Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,715,060, 1 July 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,929,123, 26 August 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Ufland Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 135 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bruce Davison portrayed Senator Kelly in X-Men (2000) and X-Men 2 (2003). Kirsten Dunst played Mary Jane Watson in the Spider-Man films and Jay Hernandez played Diablo in Suicide Squad (2016).

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Goofs

When Matty picks Nicole up for school, the cameraman's reflection is visible on the car's window.

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Quotes

Nicole: You can be anywhere where when your life begins. You meet the right person and anything is possible.

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Alternate Versions

The film was submitted five times to the MPAA to achieve a PG-13 instead of a R rating.

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Connections

Features Ed, Edd n Eddy (1999)

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Soundtracks

Everytime
Written by Beto Cuevas
Produced by Dust Brothers (as Dust Bros.)
Performed by La Ley
La Ley Appears Courtesy of Warner Music Mexico

User Reviews

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

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.