A Beautiful Mind, A Perfect Film

Rating: Null/10 (5 January 2002)

The stifling back of well-deserved tears is the best way to applaud Ron Howard's `A Beautiful Mind,' a remarkably poignant and thrilling bio-pic about mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr., played by Russell Crowe. The fact that this is the only 2001 release (limited engagements began December 21) I'd approve of winning the Best Picture Oscar is a testament to its power long after the credits roll. The Plot: Loosely based on Sylvia Nasar's biography, `Mind' prominently focuses on Nash's Princeton years, where this eager genius is hell bent on discovering a `truly original idea,' for only then will he be able to leap over the shoulders of giants his fellow colleagues insist on standing upon. The pursuit of this idea allows Nash to apply game theory to dating, in a clever scene which shows Nash and his cronies applying game theory to the world of relationships. His idea comes at a great price, for Nash's sole purpose of being, his mind, becomes his ultimate downfall. Delusions and schizophrenia set in upon receiving a job at the Pentagon, under the command of Ed Harris' William Parcher, a man whose existence is as questionable as Nash's sanity. Grounding him in reality is his wife, Alicia (the beautiful Jennifer Connelly), who loves her husband without the luxury of being guilt free. `Mind' pulls a `Fight Club-esque' twist, concerning the validity of Nash's life's work and the very problem no brain can solve: the human heart. The Good: Everything great and wonderful about film has blessed director Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, the latter redeemed for his work on `Batman and Robin.' Both are at the top of their form, Howard's camera so tightly focused and Goldsman pen fueled by poetic prose any actor would be honored to recite. Such an honor is bestowed upon Crowe, who continues a great streak of roles that expand his stardom while fine-tuning his craft to perfection. (The `Gladiator' Oscar should be re-engraved for this role.) There is a moment in Crowe's performance where we see the actor overcome by the joy of his craft, unable to contain the happiness of having good material and the honor of serving it justly. The quality of the supporting players, Harris, Connelly, and Christopher Plummer all support, and never distract, from this film's forward, feel-good momentum, an accomplishment so rare that it begs to be experienced. The Bad: The last twenty minutes feel like the epilogue to `Mr. Holland's Opus,' with too obvious old-age makeup distracting from the film's narrative, which up until then has used its special effects as tools rather than distractions. The film's bitter-sweet ending, where Nash's last triumph, the Nobel Prize, is a bi-product of his defeats, both professional and personally. The dÃ©nouement provides the film's master stroke, quickly referencing a recurring plot point which sums up both Nash's and the audience's experience as unforgettable. There is a full-circle motif in `Mind,' something few films achieve and most movies just abuse. But the creative talents behind `Mind,' especially Crowe's passionately human portrayal, seem to have found a happy medium between sappy and brilliant, mind and heart, a medium the film's subject and audience still aspire for.