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A BEAUTIFUL MIND Send This Review to a Friend
A beautiful performance highlights "A Beautiful Mind," and the masterly acting comes from Russell Crowe as Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr., whose brilliant mind was also clouded by paranoid schizophrenia. The weaving of genius with madness forms the basis of director Ron Howard's fascinating drama, scripted by Akiva Goldsman from the book about the real-life Nash by Sylvia Nasar.
As film biographies go, this one concentrates on what by the nature of the medium is likely to be an oversimplification of such a complex man's life. But as dramas go, this one works compellingly, thanks largely to the skillful and appealing performance by Crowe--a performance far more interesting than the one that earned him praise in "Gladiator." The trajectory of the story is also compelling, partly as a result of the way it sets up Nash as an interesting if driven and often hostile human being, but also because of the switch that occurs when we finally realize what is going on in a life that looks real but is really part of his paranoia.
It would be counter-productive to give away too much of the plot and spoil the film for those who have not read the book or do not know much about the real Professor Nash. But one must mention some of the key cast members, especially Alicia, as the student with whom he falls in love and marries, a character brought impressively to life by the swell performance of Jennifer Connelly, a major force in this intriguing film. Ed Harris again gives a commendable performance, this time as the mysterious Parcher, who takes control of Nash's mind and his life as the film veers into the so-called secret government work that overwhelms the protagonist. Good supporting performances also are provided by Judd Hirsch, Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, Josh Lucas and Anthony Rapp.
Howard manages to turn the film into a thriller of the mind in both areas--mathematics and illness. But in the final analysis it is Crowe's superb acting that makes the film so riveting, and also ultimately so sad. "A Beautiful Mind" is respectful of its tarnished hero, and it is rewarding to have a film for a change that envisions the potential of the human mind as something to be cherished and understood. This is no small matter in an age where so many of the films today shun anything connected to thought in favor of mindless action. A Universal Pictures release.
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