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Dunst plays Nicole Oakley, a troubled teenager from a privileged family who falls in love with Carlos (Jay Hernandez), a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. The story is nothing new, but the presentation is remarkably good, with far greater maturity than one would expect from a high school flick.
This film is exceptional considering its limited budget and the fact that most of the major players have very little experience at this level. For writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, this is their first feature film screenplay. For director John Stockwell, it is only his second feature film. Likewise for Jay Hernandez and Taryn Manning. Many of the Latino actors were cast from a local high school, so they are in their first film. By comparison, Kirsten Dunst is a jaded veteran. The use of so many ordinary (not professional actors) high school students in the film gives it a very genuine look and feel.
Stockwell turns in an impressive directorial effort with a story that is much more complex than it seems at first blush. It starts out as your standard boy-meets-girl love story. They flirt, act silly, have sex, fall in love and create beautiful romantic images on the beach. Just when you think it is going to be a real yawner, things begin to get complicated. Stockwell slowly peels away the layers of the two main characters and their families to reveal subterranean shearing forces that will act to tear them apart.
Nicole, who at first seems to be just a wild, rebellious brat, turns out to be far deeper and more emotionally unsettled than one would ever imagine. Carlos' humble roots and burning ambition bring the relationship to a breaking point when he has to decide between Nicole and his shot at Annapolis. Stockwell takes what could have been a trite teen romance and turns it into an engaging character study. While his pace is perhaps a bit too deliberate and inclusive, his sensitive treatment of the motivation of the characters and his style of unraveling their psyches slowly before our eyes makes for great drama. This film is full of "ahah" moments, where you find yourself re-evaluating the characters as some new piece of information is revealed.
Kirsten Dunst has had an active career, appearing in over twenty films before the age of twenty (which age she will attain in April 2002). This is by far her best performance, helped by the fact that it is the most complex character she has ever played. There was a hint that her ability extended beyond the superficial teen characters she normally plays in the film "Virgin Suicides", where she played a sullen, bad girl with some serious problems. As Nicole in this film, she shows us that she has extraordinary range. She really cuts loose with the character, taking her to exhilarating and uninhibited highs as well as crashing, depression ridden lows. Though this is a minor film from a box office perspective, this performance should get the attention of casting directors and open the door for her to get bigger, more serious parts. Jay Hernandez shows promise, although he seems a little wooden in this film. His great strength (other than his obvious good looks) is his sincerity. He comes across as if he means every word he says.
I was going crazy trying to figure out where I had seen Bruce Davidson (who played Tom Oakley) before. He played Willard in the film of the same name (1971) about a sociopathic kid who befriended rats and used them to attack his enemies. Davidson gives a good performance here as Nicole's congressman father, particularly in the touching scene at the end.
Herman Osario, Miguel Castro and Tommy De La Cruz were all cast for their first film in open auditions from thousands of Latino high school students. They provide the film with some of its lighter moments as Carlos' friends, and they all give fantastic performances, basically being themselves. Taryn Manning rounds out the cast as Nicole's best friend and does a fine job of playing the wild thing.
I liked this film more for the drama than the romance. I rated it an 8/10. Kirsten Dunst takes a quantum leap with this performance. It is not for impatient viewers or those who despise slushy romances. However, for those who like a good character study with emotionally charged content and complex characters it is well worth a look.
Kirsten Dunst is still portraying a teenager, but proves she can handle adult complexity. Jay Hernandez is wonderfully unaffected. The story is in many respects by the numbers, but it turns most of the movie cliches upside down - the rich kids father approves of the poor kid - it's his own daughter he has trouble with. The Latino kid is appealing to the white girls, but he isn't a white boy in a Latino skin, he is comfortable in his identity. I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to ruin the story for those who haven't seen it.
This is a fun film to watch with superb performances. As others have said, it has no villains just people who look like them from the vantage of the main characters. It's a feel good teen movie with something to interest the brain.
I have always thought this was a great movie.
