Searing and Splendid

Rating: Null/10 (28 February 2002)

A Beautiful Mind' is not, in the end, the greatest film ever made, not by a long shot--but it has two incredible assets: director Ron Howard, and, most especially, actor Russell Crowe. Experiencing first hand the exquisite horror of schizophrenia is Mr. Howard's contribution to his audience; embodying its terror, hand-in-hand with the subject's absolute genius, is Mr. Crowe's. The supporting cast is excellent in their own rights, especially Jennifer Connelly as Nash's uniquely supportive wife, and Paul Bettany as Charles, Nash's roommate and friend from his days at Princeton. To comment further on the actual particulars of the film would risk spoiling the action for those who have not yet seen it, so on that point I cease and desist. It is Hollywood's latest `bad boy' upon whom I now focus attention. The role of John Nash is Crowe's apotheosis as an actor: it is a mesmerizing performance, rich with physicality and expertly executed--in Crowe's hands, Nash is awkward and arrogant and tormented, rendered so both by his illness and by his brilliance. And yet he becomes the unlikely hero for whom we cheer. Make no mistake about it--this is Russell Crowe's triumph, a glowing recorded accomplishment that unfortunately might be the yardstick from which he is measured in the future. I say unfortunately' only because it seems a monumental hurdle to overcome--it is The Role of a Lifetime, for which Mr. Crowe, as evinced in previous films, was most assuredly up to the task.