Two people from opposite sides of the tracks meet and mate. It's a formula as old as the Pythagorean theorem, but in the new film Crazy/Beautiful, one fine performance plus one fine body equals the best movie with a slash in the title since 1997's Face/Off.
Carlos (Hernandez) is the son of poor Mexican immigrants, a straight-A student who catches a bus at 5:43 every morning to attend high school in an upscale 'hood. Nicole is the daughter of a wealthy congressman. She wakes at 8, goes to school in her pajamas, and carries a water-bottle full of vodka.
They meet at the beach while Nicole is on chain-gang duty for a DUI offense. She's crazy. He's beautiful. Get it?
Carlos and Nicole fall in love. (Insert footage of the couple smooching in the darkroom, necking at the beach, and making out in the swimming pool.)
Of course, for the girl/boy from two different worlds, staying in love is not so easy. Carlos' family and friends disapprove of his involvement with "that white girl." They cuss at him en Espanola. Nicole's father forbids Carlos from seeing his daughter. He warns Carlos that Nicole is a couple aces short of a deck. Yet Carlos and Nicole set out to prove everyone wrong.
Likewise, the film sets out to teach a lesson or two about love, forgiveness, and racial tolerance.
Yes, Crazy/Beautiful is a sort of `Afterschool Special' for the TRL-generation, starring the current perky teenage poster-girl. Here, Dunst attempts to shed her good-girl image with drunken escapades and a really bad haircut. Also, Hernandez sheds his shirt. Thus, while this film is no masterpiece, Dunst's performance and Hernandez's pecs make Crazy/Beautiful entertaining/enjoyable.
