Magnificant

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2002)

*Warning may contain spoilers*
A Beautiful Mind-4 1/2 Stars (out of 5)- The academy's best picture of the year can be defined in two words: Russell Crowe. He never ceases to amaze me, which this is the bottom line. Throughout the entire movie Crowe portrays the incredibly intelligent and schizophrenic John Nash unbelievably. I am amazed the entire time at how Crowe pulls this character off. His body language, movements, conversations and facial expressions are put forth with flawlessness, the kind that someone of only Crowe's caliber can deliver. Having seen such programs as the Sixty Minutes report on the actual John Nash, I can tell you that Crowe resembles what kind of person I saw in the short interview of this man. Its not so much how he makes you believe he is John Nash, its how Crowe makes us believe that he really is sick mentally and the audience truly is reeled in by the emotion and actions and we begin to see just how serious of a disease schizophrenia is. Ron Howard deservingly received the academy's award for best director (although in my opinion it could have gone to David Lynch) for A Beautiful Mind. Howard does a brilliant job of truly showing us what John Nash's world was like. The portrayal of what Nash is thinking is nothing short of extraordinary, as we see him break the "hidden codes" throughout the newspapers as he races to save America. The movie is developed incredibly as the audience is sure what is on screen is reality and what is happening in John Nash's life is what is actually going on in real life. The audience is then shocked to learn that a good portion of what was going on in the movie and a good amount of John Nash's actions and work was for nothing as it was all in his mind. Using this method to expose Nash's mental sickness is a crucial part to the movie and is what really makes it stand out as an accomplishment for Howard as director and Akiva Goldsman for writing the adapted screenplay. Howard's camera angles and methods of delving into Nash's mind are excellent and give us the necessary insight into Nash's physiological state. My hat goes off to the beautiful Jennifer Connelly as well for her role as Nash's love interest and wife Alicia Nash. I did not think I could like a role of hers as much as her role in Requiem For A Dream but she came close to exceeding her performance here. She did pick of the academy's award for best actress in a supporting role, which I would have given her as well. Simply put, she was magnificent. Alicia serves as the medium for John between reality and his reality. It is her that keeps him in check later on when he is battling the disease and it is ultimately Alicia that keeps Nash alive in reality and gives him the strength to continue. The final major scene, Nash's speech at the Nobel Prize awards, is a speech in which he only thanks his wife and though it is not a long speech or well written one, it is a speech that delivers the emotion and the gratitude to Alicia Nash that is necessary for the audience to view. Ms. Connelly, throughout the entire film, delivers the acting and emotion that is necessary to make us believe that John's situation is as horrible and agonizing as it seems. A Beautiful Mind is an incredible journey into the mind and life of Mr. John Nash. The film is executed with perfection as everybody does the job needed. Ron Howard does his best work ever as director, Russell Crowe arguably puts forth his best performance on the big screen and Jennifer Connelly helps us to understand the frustration and pain that was prominent for the real Alicia Nash as well as for any other relative, friend or loved one effected by this disease. This film truly makes you sympathize with the Nash's and what they went through, but it also makes us appreciate our minds to a great extent. The exposure of schizophrenia through this film will do good for work to help those with the disease and it will also give the public a better idea of how horrible and serious this disease really is. This movie produces on every level and is among the years best without a doubt.