When Worlds Collide

You can be anywhere where when your life begins. You meet the right person and anything is possible.

Carlos: You're crazy...
Nicole: ...and you're beautiful.

“When fate steps in and brings together two high school seniors from opposite sides of the track, it's something crazy/beautiful in this sexy, fun and energetic story of first love. Nicole (Kirsten Dunst) is the 17-year-old troubled daughter of a wealthy congressman who never met a rule she didn't break. Carlos (Jay Hernandez) is a grade A student with big dreams who endures a two-hour bus ride every morning to attend high school in an upscale L.A. neighborhood. Their innocent flirtations quickly develop into passionate love, but Nicole's self-destructive behavior threatens their relationship and puts Carlos' promising future in jeopardy. Will their intense passion keep them together despite the objections of their families or will Carlos be forced to plan his future without Nicole? Surprises lie at every turn in this wildly seductive and critically acclaimed drama.”

A few weeks ago I rented Crazy/Beautiful and found myself rooting for this diametrically opposite couple. I’m all about reversing the usual stereotypes and she plays the spoiled, bored, substance-abusing, rich gal who initiates the romance while he’s the wrong-side-of-the-tracks, ambitious, serious, feet-firmly-planted-on-terra-firma guy. Though never having set foot in a plane, he yearns to be a naval pilot and she just wants to live it up and get high with her like-minded, hell-raising buddy, Maddy. Braless Nicole in her cropped tops, low-riding jeans and overt, in-your-face sexuality juxtaposes Carlos’ reserve and understandable wariness of any extraneous attachments. He has a well-planned out life and given the opportunity to make something of it, has no intention of wasting it. On the other hand, she doesn’t look past her nose or care what people think and lives her life on the edge. As their involvement deepens and his responsibilities go by the wayside, big brother is compelled to read him the riot act. Carlos disentangles himself from her sensuous web but gallops to her rescue when she incoherently answers her cell while attending a raucous party. Together, the viewer and Carlos discover what prompts her undisciplined behavior and though it doesn’t excuse it, insight and sympathy are obtained. Her Latino knight in shining armor whisks her away before she can be sent to a Betty Ford-like clinic as they spend time alone mulling their future. Seeing the error of her ways, they return, giving her the opportunity to make amends and come to terms with her family. In the end, he ships off to boot camp to embark on his exciting military future and this newfound, responsible member of society is anticipating her first reunion with him. Love conquers all...