'crazy/beautiful' showcases promising young talent

A cheesy teenybopper movie it's not. "crazy/beautiful" tells the story of Nicole Oakley and Carlos Nunez's high school romance. The film is fairly predictable, although it does have its minor twists. But the unexpected comes in the acting, as 3-D characters form out of cookie-cutter roles.\nNicole Oakley (Kirsten Dunst, "Get Over It") is the "crazy" rebel child of a California congressman in wealthy Pacific Palisades. Nicole's father never has time for her and her stepmother hates her. Nicole is starved for love, and in its absence acts out of control to get attention. She has no direction in her life until she meets Carlos.\nCarlos Nunez (Jay Hernandez, MTV's "Undressed") is the "beautiful" straight-A student from a Hispanic neighborhood across town. He's hardworking, riding the bus two hours every morning to attend Pacific High, instead of a school nearby. After graduation, Carlos wants to go to Annapolis to become a Navy pilot. But he questions his plans after meeting Nicole. \nThey say opposites attract -- that is the whole premise of this movie -- but in parts, it is far-fetched that these two extremes could ever have a relationship. Carlos is just too good and Nicole is too bad. But that is the whole idea -- that Nicole has finally found someone (the unbelievably accepting Carlos) willing to love her in spite of her faults. So audience members must suspend their disbelief and understand this is not a "thinker" movie -- just go with it and be entertained.\nOn the surface, Nicole and Carlos are generic roles, but the acting gives the characters more depth. Dunst wears no make-up in the film and is generally unattractive in her barely there, torn shirts and shorts. But this makes sense because emotionally Nicole is also a mess. Dunst gets into the role with abandon, in Nicole's moments of happiness and depression alike. \nOn the other end of the spectrum is Carlos, who always looks and acts model-perfect (Hernandez has been deemed the "Latin Tom Cruise"). Hernandez makes Carlos seem ambitious rather than goody-two-shoes. He could be any normal teenage guy.\n"Break-through performance" is an often over-used phrase, but this film not only features one by Hernandez, but also by Taryn Manning, who plays Nicole's best friend. \nAs Maddy, Manning (best known from FOX's "Get Real"), is also wild, but believable. Everyone knows the girl who every parent/teacher/hall monitor shook his or her head at, immediately judging as "trouble." But that girl never cared what people thought of her, and if you got to know her, she'd\npaint your fingernails with marker and listen to all your problems. Manning understood that girl and makes her real through this supporting role.\nHernandez will soon appear in Touchstone Pictures' "The Rookie", and hopefully we'll see more of Manning, too. These actors still have a long way to go, but in this film they and Dunst were able to add drama to a fairly shallow plot, and develop characters with some substance.\nThis movie will not be the best one you see all year, but it's a lot better than your average boy-meets-girl flick.