Whose life is it, anyway?

Rating: 9/10 (3 April 2002)

"A Beautiful Mind" is a beautiful movie. It is the story of the brilliant and tortured John Nash, mathematician and Nobel laureate, a man who wrestled with the demons of mental illness and came out on top.
Or is it?
If you read the book on which the movie was based - and be forewarned, it is NOT an easy read - you will find that the movie really had only the most tenuous connection with John Nash's life. He was brilliant. He was arrogant. He was mad. He married Alicia. And he won a Nobel prize.

Yet even after I read the book, and saw Nash himself interviewed (and heard him make discouraging comments that his schizophrenic son should employ more "rational thinking"), I found that I still like the movie.

Maybe because I have wrestled with my own demons of mental illness (though mine are tame compared to Nash's), I found myself in sympathy with Nash's film self. I also felt for Alicia, as my spouse has had to go through some harrowing moments with me. Scenes in the hospital were a bit unnerving. Yet there a poignant hope surrounding the film, that those of us in the depths may find the light in the tunnel, and passage out of the darkness.
Akiva Goldsman's script was both luminous and shadowy, probing the mind of genius and insanity with equal aplomb. Someone so complex as Nash could not have been brought to life by a poor writer. Sylvia Nasar's book is excellent; Goldsman's screenplay, though bearing only slight resemblance to the book, is excellent as well. The movie owes much to the screenplay's brilliance.
Russell Crowe did a wonderful job as Nash, portraying the man on many levels. The one problem for me was his accent, or lack thereof. Only twice did he lapse into something faintly resembling a Southern accent. The rest of the time I kept hearing Richard Burton, particularly as George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Crowe will be the perfect choice to play Burton's role in the remake.
Jennifer Connelly was both strong and delicate as Alicia Nash. (It would have been nice if the film had at least hinted that Alicia is Hispanic.) Ed Harris rarely stumbles, and he was certainly in fine form as the hard-as-nails - and ultimately terrifying - William Parcher. Judd Hirsch was unfortunately wasted in a throw-away part.
Ulimately, however, it was the performance of Paul Bettany that made me go back to the theater a second time, and what will make me buy the video as soon as it is released. As the "prodigal roommate" Charles Herman, Bettany was a perfect foil and comic relief for Crowe's anguished Nash. The role of Charles may well have been the most difficult in the film, and Bettany did it proud. I was disappointed that the Academy Awards overlooked him.

Perhaps the film owes its heart and soul to its director, Ron Howard. I've never been a huge fan of Howard's pictures - though I did like "Apollo 13" (and "Gung Ho" had its moments: "No more MTV! No more Twisted Sister!"). With "A Beautiful Mind," Ron grows up. It's nice to see one of my contemporaries make good after many years of hard work. (You can always count on Ron to include his family in his pictures - Daddy Rance showed up in "A Beautiful Mind" as a mental patient, and Ron himself was a party guest.)
While much of the pre-Oscar buzz going around was true - "A Beautiful Mind" does sugarcoat Nash's rather abrasive personality - the best thing to do is judge the film as a separate entity. Read the book for the life of John Nash. Watch "A Beautiful Mind" to see a beautiful movie.