A Beautiful Story Told Poorly

Rating: 6/10 (7 July 2002)

While I deeply appreciate the contribution of Mr. Howard and the other contributors to this project to deal with difficult subject matter, I find there are many critiques I would choose to offer. The license the film maker takes to entertain us leaves many truths of this story stretched far beyond the reasonable. It troubles me that a serious film maker would make such flaws as are made with issues relating to facts that are easily verifiable. For example, lectures are given prior to the awarding of a Nobel Prize, and acceptance speeches are never given. Dramatic license is one thing, but his speech could have been written into the script in hundreds of other places, rather than leaving the masses with blatant misrepresentations.
I adored the performances of the two main characters, though Ms. Connelly could have been given so much more. Mrs. Nash is half of the story of Mr. Nash, and yet her character was reduced to being two dimensional at best. Mr. Howard and the screen writers all but ignored secondary characters, letting them stand merely as bridges to move from one main point to the next. This is completely irresponsible film making. Has Mr. Howard become so comfortable and confident that he has forgotten what it's like to take risks? I think he's the epitome of everything that is wrong with American film. It's long on safe choices, short on quality of development.
I enjoy Mr. Howard's films for basic entertainment and storytelling value, and he does have a wonderful eye for background detail, among many of his other unmentioned talents. I think he has promise, but his films are beginning to cater so much more to the masses than to true and honest work. This leaves me both sad and bitter, because he could be a great director if he really allowed himself to take chances.
He plays it safe, and for that audiences adore him and he makes a studio very happy. No doubt he will be regarded as one of the top directors of our time, but this regard does not make the fact true. He could be so much more, and I for one keep paying to see that happen because I have hope. Yet with each passing film, I find the same tired tread of someone who wants to make a spectacular commercially successful film, that I want to ask him to please do something incredible. Ed Harris looks like he's becoming bored with his one dimensional sideline characters in all of his Howard films, and this is not fitting for such a wonderful talent. Only two characters were allowed to really shine, and certainly they deserve their acclaim, if for no other reason than the direction is stale.
The script was decent, but left so many incredible wholes that I can't imagine why it took nearly two and a half hours to tell this wonderful story of John and Alicia Nash. It's taken me a few days to digest how unsatisfying I felt. I became too dazzled by the two main characters o see the incredible flaws, and I can only feel sorry that this important story was not only a poor representation of Mr. And Mrs. Nash, but much fictionalized for dramatic license.

This film should have been given to a more capable team, such as Steven Soderbergh or P.T. Anderson, or even Hal Hartley. I think the film wouldn't have been as successful commercially, but artistically and for story content, this would have been a much better movie. To Mr. Howard, I give the big raspberry. Boo, I say.
Boo.