CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL
Released: June 29, 2001
Do you recall the Drew Berrymore and Chris O'Donnell movie from 1995 called "Mad Love"? In it, O'Donnell's character is a young man with a good future ahead of him. Then he meets Berrymore, who is manic-depressive and disconnected from her parents (and pretty much everything else). Much like "Mad Love", "crazy / beautiful" tackles some of the same ideas, including parental relationships, friendships plus inter-racial relationships. Kirsten Dunst plays Nicole, daughter of a congressman. She is a tad messed up no thanks to her less than perfect family situation and her prediliction for utter self-destruction. Once she meets Carlos (played by newcomer Jay Hernandez) she is initially just having fun but soon falls for him. The movie tackles a lot of differing subjects. Is it about Nicole's relationship with Carlos? Or her one about the relationship with her friends, step-mother, father or her inner demons? The movie goes off in all directions, never settling on one for very long. Characters are introduced then dropped, with virtually no reason other than some stereotypical forward motion plot device. In the end, I was left assaulted by the many different slants the story took and therefore did not care one way or another about the fate of the characters. Dunst IS a good actress but this isn't the starring role to launch her into the mainstream. She DOES look amazing in the barely-there tank tops however and sadly, it was Dunst's breasts that kept me from falling asleep right there in the theatre.
105 Minutes
Touchstone/Buena Vista