Great body covering a weak mind=a beautiful mind - A Beautiful Mind Reviews

A Beautiful Mind is not a great movie, certainly not 2001's best film, but it's a respectable effort from director Ron Howard, and especially writer Akiva Goldsman, who was partially responsible for the travesty that was Batman and Robin. This biographical drama focuses on the life of John Nash, the genius who developed a radical concept on game theory. I'd rather not say further about the story, since there's a big plot twist halfway through that definitely puts a spin on much of the material that came before it. As most have heard, A Beautiful Mind is largely inaccurate in its depiction of John Nash's life. Did I really care? Not particularly. I'd be a fool to expect a film based on facts to adhere entirely to the truth. Rather, I'm basing my opinion on how well-crafted the movie is, and how well it succeeded on what it was trying to be, that is, a film meant to inspire with its theme of love (and besides, I seriously doubt all the indiscretions of Nash's life would mesh well with that, so I'm wondering if the film's detractors really want to see all of Nash's odd behavior portrayed or if they're just looking for something to complain about). So how does this film come across as a feel good drama? Not bad. First off, I'd like to mention that Ron Howard's direction and Goldsman's screenwriting are easily the film's weakest points, and not deserving of the Oscars they received. As has been evident in previous works, Howard is not a master of subtlety, and as best as he tries, he obviously doesn't have a firm grasp of what's genuinely good drama. A lot of the film's emotional moments are overdone and pure Hollywood; there's typical shouting, crying, and glass-breaking, nothing I haven't seen before. While I have a lot to complain about Howard's direction, he's fine when it comes to pacing and style, and yes, the film itself does look very lovely and polished. Definitely by far the film's weakest segment is in the last ten or so minutes, when we witness Nash age and receive his nobel prize. That alone doesn't sound so awful, but unfortunately, we get a speech that lamely hammers home the movie's message, that of how we must rely on emotion and love over cold intellect to solve our problems and survive in this world. It had already seemed obvious that was what the film had been striving to say throughout its rather lengthy running time, and I sure as hell didn't need Howard to blindly forcefeed the theme in such a manner. Since I've done nothing but complain up to this point, you might wonder why it is I didn't give this film a lower rating. The answer's simple. This all works thanks to Russell Crowe as John Nash and Jennifer Connelly as his wife, particularly the latter, who delivers a magnificent performance worthy of far more screen time (it's all the more disappointing to see that we never even find out what she does for a living, considering she was the one supporting Nash in his later, troubled years). Crowe is in fine form in the lead, both sympathetic and likeable, though some of his tics seem more like obvious attempts at acting rather than genuine eccentric behavior. It's unfortunate the love story between Nash and Alicia isn't even given any sense of build up, she just asks him out without even a hint of a reason for why she finds him attractive (well, Nash here does look like hunky Russell Crowe). Schizophrenia is a disease that's dealt with in the film. I've never studied up much on it, though on my paltry knowledge alone, I probably know far more than most Hollywood (most often, as in the case with Me, Myself, and Irene, filmmakers seem to think schizophrenia is just another term for multiple identity disorder). (moderate spoiler) I don't know how accurate A Beautiful Mind's portrayal of this mental illness is, but the Nash in the movie hardly seems like a true "loony," and the film makes the disease seem a bit easier to handle than it probably is (Nash sees a few people who aren't there, and at one point, even reasons that they can't be there). Much like the rest of the film, the handling of this topic feels Hollywood, but also like the rest of the film, it's handled competently and in an occasionally riveting fasion.