‘Crazy/beautiful’ refreshing teen movie

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In theaters

CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL, 95 minutes, PG-13, directed by John Stockwell, written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi.

John Stockwell’s “crazy/beautiful” isn’t your typical teen romance – and that’s a good thing, especially if you’ve seen some of the crap Hollywood has been pushing through the mill for teens.

Instead of pandering to baser sensibilities and being without an honest moment, the film is intent on offering its target audience something deeper, more interesting and worthwhile.

Its story of a lovesick couple crossing class and color lines is timeworn and designed to be box office friendly – the film is, after all, backed by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, the studio that demanded Stockwell edit his movie to spare audiences any discomfort they might feel from watching teens drink and use drugs.

But Stockwell and his screenwriters, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, should nevertheless be commended for rising above the studio’s decision and doing their best to offer something reasonably fresh and thought provoking.

The film stars Kirsten Dunst as Nicole Oakley, an oily, out-of-control, 17-year-old drunk who seeks trouble, revels in it, and then goes out of her way to cause more. Her father, Tom (Bruce Davison), a rich, liberal congressman with a new wife and child, doesn’t know what to do with her – and so, it initially appears, he does nothing.

Free to roam the streets of Pacific Palisades with her equally edgy friend, Maddy (Taryn Manning), Nicole is ready to crash and burn when she meets Carlos Nunez (Jay Hernandez), a straight arrow, Mexican American with dreams of attending the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, who’s fighting to get out of East L.A. before East L.A. takes the fight out of him.

With early scenes that aren’t exactly subtle when hammering home the fact that Carlos is as perfect as Nicole is imperfect, the film is a bit heavy-handed when dealing with the differences between its two doe-eyed lovers.

But as these two fall in love and are forced to deal with all that entails – she’s crazy, he’s beautiful, together they’re dysfunctional – the film generates sustained interest as the ramifications of this bumpy, yet loving relationship become clear.

With Dunst once again showing her impressive range and Hernandez delivering a performance that grounds the film, “crazy/beautiful” wisely doesn’t preach as its fragile world falls apart. Instead, it respects its characters, allowing them their issues and problems, while respecting us enough to judge it all for ourselves.

Grade: B

On video and DVD

THIRTEEN DAYS, 145 minutes, PG-13, directed by Roger Donaldson, written by David Self.

Roger Donaldson’s “Thirteen Days,” the smart, provocative, if slightly revisionistic re-creation of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, has a worrisome beginning – not because of any Russian missiles aimed at U.S. shores, but because of Kevin Costner’s jarring Boston brogue, which is so thick and hard to listen to, it initially seems as if it will destroy the movie.

It doesn’t. “Thirteen Days” is so well-written, acted and involving, the heavy-handed accents of its three major players – Kenny O’Donnell (Costner), John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) and Bobby Kennedy (Steven Culp) – pack less and less of a distracting punch as the drama unfolds.

The film is based on historic fact, but liberties have been taken to re-create a crisis that nearly left millions dead from nuclear war.

What Donaldson and his screenwriter, David Self, envision isn’t just a possible war fought against Russia, but a very real war fought within the White House. The best scenes in “Thirteen Days” revolve around Kennedy’s ongoing fight to keep his advisers from undermining him at every turn and thus sending us into a war that could be avoided with skill and patience.

For guidance, Kennedy turns to his hot-headed brother, Bobby, and to the slightly cooler O’Donnell, a man who may have been one of Kennedy’s closest aides, but who, history reminds us, never had the role of importance he’s given here.

The decision to beef up O’Donnell’s influence over JFK will bother some political and historical purists, so it’s important to emphasize where “Thirteen Days” is coming from. It’s not so much interested in presenting 145 minutes of nonstop fact, even though its core is steeped in it. Instead, mirroring Oliver Stone’s “Nixon” and “JFK,” it’s more interested in capturing the myth born out of a tumultuous time.

The result is fantastic, a stirring, often thrilling film that sees the big picture while reasonably imagining the drama that took place behind Washington’s closed doors.

Grade: A-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style, Thursdays in the scene, Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com

THE VIDEO CORNER

Renting a video? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores.

Down to Earth ? D

Monkeybone ? D

Thirteen Days ? A-

Unbreakable ? C+

The Wedding

Planner ? D+

You Can Count on Me ? A

Proof of Life ? C-

Save the Last Dance ? C-

State and Main ? B

O Brother,

Where Art Thou ? A-

Cast Away ? A-

Crouching Tiger,

Hidden Dragon ? A+

The House Of Mirth ? B

Shadow of the

Vampire ? B+

Traffic ? A

Antitrust ? D

Before Night Falls ? A

Best in Show ? A

Requiem for a Dream ? A

Vertical Limit ? B-

Pay it Forward ? C

Duets ? D

Quills ? B

What Women Want ? B

Yi Yi ? A

All the Pretty Horses ? C-

Miss Congeniality ? B

The Emperor’s

New Groove ? A-

Little Nicky ? F

One Day in

September ? B+

Bamboozled ? B+

Finding Forrester ? B+