Crazy/Beautiful

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Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> "Look at me, I'm pathetic"</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Nicole Oakley: Kirsten Dunst</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Carlos Nunez: Jay Hernandez</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Rosa: Ana Argueta</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Maddy: Taryn Manning</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Tom Oakley: Bruce Davison</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Courtney: Lucinda Jenney</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div>  </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Director: John Stockwell</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: The rich, white teenage daughter of a US Congressman is an out of control, depressed substance abuser who falls in love with a smart, motivated Latino classmate that lives on the poor side of town. The wake of the damage she causes includes possibly ruining his chance of being accepted into the Naval Academy, as well as endangering her own life.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Nicole Oakley (Kirsten Dunst) is the victim of a hard working, socially ethical father, Tom Oakley (Bruce Davison), who went into politics and because of that passion, spent little time at home. The result was the dissolution of their family, in a most devastating way, when Nicole was 12 years old and she's been in a funk ever since. She admits to being persona non grata at most of the shrinks in the LA area.  She often drinks, on her way to school, and she does drugs. She meets Carlos Nunez (Jay Hernandez) one day as she is doing public service duty picking up trash on the beach because of a driving under the influence conviction. Not helping the situation is her stepmother Courtney (Lucinda Jenney), whose only concern seems to be the young child from her marriage with Nicole's dad.</div> <bR> <div> Carlos commutes two hours each way on the bus to attend Pacific Palisades High School, in that upscale LA suburb, so he can get into the Naval Academy and be the first in his Mexican-American family to truly take advantage of the opportunities that America has to offer. His mother speaks only Spanish, which is not sub titled and not a problem because believe me you know what she is saying and feeling, the same as any concerned mother.   </div> <bR> <div> Carlos takes the bait of the forbidden fruit of white girl infatuation as Nicole and Maddy turn on the charm.  When Nicole jokes, saying that Carlos gets a "white girl" as part of the package of going across town to school, Maddy then adds, "… it's even better than that because he gets two." </div> <bR> <div> The film deals with the view that many young ethnic men often feel if one of their own leaves them for a part of society where they normally don't tread. Additionally, parents and women of color also can be threatened when they "lose" their very best men to social integration. The implication is that if you can integrate into white society and get the grand prize of a white woman, you can leave your culture behind. Fortunately in this case, the film shows the other side of that when the two people really are in love and they as well as others benefit because of the interracial relationship. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: This film is similar in tone to <I><B>Save the Last Dance</B></I> in that high schoolers are in the process of making major decisions in their life. Although <I>Dance</I> is an <I>easier</I> film to look at, this is a <I>better</I> film because it makes you focus on real inner demons while not revolving around the dating game and the natural talent of someone who wants to be a dancer. These are more "ordinary" people. </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>crazy/beautiful</B></I> has a message similar to the hard-hitting <I><B>Baby Boy</B></I>, with a few notable differences. The person that needs to grow up here is a rich, white, motherless teenager, rather than a poor black man of twenty. <I><B>Baby Boy</B></I> smoothed out the message of parental responsibility with considerable sexual relationships and <I><B>crazy</B></I><B> </B>shows sex after the fact rather than during. The drug use was out in the open in <I>Baby Boy</I> and here we only see the effects of it.</div> <bR> <div> You may read or hear about the fact that several sexually explicit scenes were cut out of the film as well as a decision to curtail the substance abuse and more extensive cursing so that the film would receive a PG-13 rating. Often I'm critical of such action, but here I tend to agree. Although teens often do live an "R" rated life, the people who most need to get this message are under 18 and therefore will be more likely to see the film if it's not  "R" rated. For young adults over 18 that want to see films that speak to some of the subjects in this film, but with a greater focus on sex, violence, language and morality, you may wish to see <I><B>Lost and Delirious</B></I> and/or <I><B>Bully.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> One of the things that makes <I><B>crazy/beautiful</B></I> special is that it speaks to the issue of diversity and moral values without being preachy. Some teen films that try to be sophisticated like <I><B>Sugar and Spice</B></I> have their "message" lost in the sex, violence and language. When PG-13 is the rating, the sum of events also comes into play. For example, only so many partially nude shots, so many curse words, etc. Someone actually counts these things…the morality patrol!</div> <bR> <div> Some parents will not like the implied consent of teens with an active sex life in high school, but if it's going to happen, then it's best that premature pregnancies and disease are avoided. As we are shown in <I><B>Baby Boy,</B></I> when teenagers have children of their own, it's much more difficult to come to a realization that you want to make a change that you can then make happen. If sex and drugs take over your focus, as is the case in <A HREF="id1856.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bully"><U><I><B>Bully,</B></I></U></A> being an unwed mother or father is a walk in the park. </div> <bR> <div> Both movies, which open this week, <I><B>crazy/beautiful</B></I> and <I><B>Baby Boy</B></I>, are an encouraging trend in films directed at young adults. They will for sure help mend some fences in troubled families and more importantly, save some lives. </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> PG-13 (sex; nudity; substance abuse; violence; language)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Kirsten Dunst: <I><B>Bring it On</B></I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Taryn Manning: <I><B>White Oleander</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Bruce Davison: <I><B>The King is Alive</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Lucinda Jenney: <I><B>Thirteen Days</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Jay Hernandez: <I><B>Living the Life</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> John Stockwell: <I><B>Rock Star</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Footnote: On opening weekend, <I>Baby Boy</I> did $9 million and <I>crazy</I> only $5 million. Time will tell if the PG-13 set was not interested, and if the 18 and up folks thought it was too tame. <I>A.I. Artificial Intelligence</I> also opened, which brought in a lot of business at $30M; <I>Fast and Furious</I> at $20M; <I>Doctor Doolittle 2</I> at $15M and <I>Tomb Raider</I> at $10M. The competition is intense. Movie reviews in the print media tend to have a short shelf life so what will carry the day will be word of mouth and reviews that are read on the Internet. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>