would have been a great short film, documentary, or anything else...

Rating: 1/10 (11 February 2002)

Russel Crowe proves to be a decent actor, going from college to shaking old man, his acting and the make-up artist who worked on him did a great teamwork. On the other hand, Jennifer Connelly does not age well throughout the movie, and this is critical in supporting the creativity of using a cinematographic gaffe to visualize a concept dealing with the beautiful mind in question. And suddenly, the make-up ages her so strangely that she looks pretty darn close to Helena Bonham Carter from Planet of the Apes! Plot twists a la "The Others"--to name something other than that movie with Bruce Willis and the kid, keep you watching, and moments of brilliance such as the theory with which John Nash proves John Adams wrong using a blonde and her friends, build up the expectations which are completely blown off by the less than satisfactory shallow talk on which the movie ends. When strings of movies came out as Pulp Fiction wannabes (the original itself from a John Woo wannabe), things were recognizably bad. Now that Night Shamalyan wannabes bring out their visual twists to their wannabe movies, things like this movie come out--you can't directly tell how bad it is, because the visual trickstery feels original, even though the device has been explored already with a better story--even though the gaffes in the movies give the movie very different unintended interpretations.
SPOILERS
when you see that wifey does not get older, you start thinking: is she one too! when you see that the pens put in front of him are placed differently in every single one of the five different shots they appear in, is that another one of his...? When you tease the viewer by leaving a visual clue, you can't allow yourself to leave behind so many gaffes.

1/10