Nicole (Kirsten Dunst) is the rebellious and reckless teenage daughter of Tom Oakley (Bruce Davison), a liberal California congressman who lives with Courtney (Lucinda Jenney), his second wife, and their toddler daughter. They don't know how to respond to Nicole's self-destructive behavior that includes several suicide attempts, drinking and wild partying, and a reputation as a troublemaker at Pacific High School.

Carlos (Jay Hernandez) attends the same school but travels two hours by bus to get there, leaving home before six in the morning. He lives in the barrio with his Mexican-American mother and older brother. They have high hopes for him. Carlos is a good student, plays on the football team, and has dreams of becoming a pilot after attending the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Carlos meets Nicole at the beach and they do a freefall into romance despite the enormous differences in their backgrounds and temperaments. "When I'm with you, I never know what's going to happen," he tells her in praise of her free spirit. She respects his steadiness and focused way of life.

Can this love relationship survive the jolts that Nicole's crazy behavior rains down upon them? It helps that director John Stockwell, working from a screenplay by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, demonstrates a deep respect for all of the characters and the challenges they face.

Eventually Nicole's father lets Carlos in on the source of his daughter's emotional problems. With unusual honesty, he advises him to stay away from her for his own good. But Carlos in the name of love is willing to stand by Nicole and even serve as the catalyst to her long-needed reconciliation with her father.

It is said that Zen masters can see and appreciate the beauty in a cracked, bumpy, and uneven pot. They are able to accept flaws as a place of mystery. In Crazy/Beautiful, Carlos is a Zen master in the making whose love enables him to see and appreciate Nicole's inner beauty.