perfectly beautiful

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2002)

First I have to say I was not in the mood for a "serious" movie. It was definitely the night for a romantic comedy, but that was not in the cards. Nothing prepared me for the simplicity and honesty of this film. I loved it. Very quickly forgot my pouty need for comedy as I enjoyed this film with all its intelligence and pain.
A Beautiful Mind is well, beautiful. Take a man who is a bit uncomfortable in society, a man who is devastating in his intelligence and sadly lacking in people skills and make him ill, make him have audio and visual hallucinations and you have a potent individual. Russell Crowe is for want of a better word, beautiful, in his portrayal of this outsider, who struggles in a society he doesn't understand nor does he want to. But then by now we expect only fantastic things from Mr. Crowe. The movie follows his life from Princeton all the way through until he wins the Nobel Prize for economics. I won't say more because it would give away plot points.
As for acting, there is not one person in this movie who is not impressive in their roles. Ed Harris never lets you down, as a tough talking shadowy government figure, Jennifer Connely is heartbreaking as the woman who loves Nash, but struggles to understand what is happening to him, the whole cast deserves an award for a great assemble.
This movie is great because it takes an honest look at schizophrenia; it allows us to empathize with John Nash, but not necessarily like him. He is rude, vain and incredibly intelligent, often not the best lead character, but the love story is strong, the acting is incredible and the directing fantastic. This movie deserves the accolades it has received.