More of the same from Ron Howard

Rating: Null/10 (13 March 2002)

I wasn't at all excited about the prospect of sitting through "A Beautiful Mind," but since I enjoy the Oscars much more when I've seen the majority of films up for competition, I felt obliged to see this one. I can't say I was disappointed, because I didn't expect much to begin with. The film is typical of what I've come to expect from Ron Howard: polished, glossy, safe, and dull.
This is the kind of movie where everyone looks like they've stepped out of a magazine. Everyone is attractive, and if there are characters who aren't, they stay well within an acceptable range of unattractiveness. Welcome to Ron Howard's world, where the techniques of film making are so encumbered by the demands of mainstream movie America that one feels as if he's seen this movie already. And you have. If you've seen any film about someone overcoming a mental illness to deliver an uplifting message about the triumph of the human spirit, you've seen "A Beautiful Mind." It's paint by numbers film making. All of the required scenes are there---I felt as if I needed a little checklist so that I could tick them off as I went.

Russell Crowe does o.k. with his role, though it's mostly a collection of physical tricks rather than a fully fleshed out performance. I don't know why everyone's going nuts over Jennifer Connelly. She's adequate, but nothing more, and she isn't given a lot to do as Nash's stoic wife.
Nash's schizophrenia is handled with sledgehammer subtlety by Howard. The movie could and should have been much shorter had whole scenes detailing Nash's hallucinations been left on the cutting room floor. I'm sorry Ed Harris---I like you, but your whole performance could have been left out and the movie would be unchanged.
Howard treats mental illness like it's a new topic that's never been dealt with before. He's caught Steven Spielberg syndrome---it's as if he suddenly feels it's his duty to bring awareness to "serious" topics, but he handles them in such a shameless way, and gives his audience such little credit for being able to understand and appreciate nuance (let alone have a genuine emotional response) that his movies are becoming progressively tedious and boring.
I'm waiting for "Parenthood 2." Let Howard get back on familiar terrain.