Review of Crazy/Beautiful (2001) by Constantine H — 14 Nov 2007

It's the romantic teen movie that actually works.

It's not as full of clichés as you might think. The big one is the pairing. The one with the future and the one without one, who did not see that coming? I did. But the movie really plays upon that.

Nicole is a rich, white self-destructive, rebellious child after seeing her mother dead, from suicide.

Carlos is a poor organized, a gentleman, he has his act together. Until he met his counterpart. He was becoming somewhat of a male Nicole, his whole attitude was changing.

Carlos was at first very responsible, looking out for Nicole, whenever Nicole went and did something stupid.

That is, until he is warned what Nicole can do to a person - which is happening to him right now, and is told by her father to stay away. Then a total makeover happened. After spending more time together, he slowly let's himself go. And he realizes that he is totally in love with her, never will they be apart.

He decides that they should run away, be together forever, but their runaway stunt lasts a few days, and they return home.

And they live happily ever after, really.

It really is a netter than most of those formulaic pics, even though this is a little formulaic itself. It's real, believable, and has great performances by the leads. Particularly Dunst, she usually is good, no surprise there. Her portrayal as a lost teen, is great. And Jay Hernandez knows how to turn it on.

The ending may seem out of place, because it is. They changed the ending because, I don't know, but they did. I thought the end was good, it fit for me anyways.