Perfect acting and direction in a film with something for everyone

Rating: Null/10 (29 February 2004)

Again, I have to write to whole-heartedly disagree with what others have said about this film. It is brilliant. Of course it doesn't completely get the whole story right, but Hollywood is not about 100% autobiographical pix. Watch E! True Hollywood Story for that. But it does do an amazing job of capturing the mood and madness of schizophrenia. The photography is brilliant, the directing subperb, and, while I wasn't a real fan of Russel Crowe before seeing this film, I don't think anyone could have done a better job of interpretting a man confused by his own genius. And it is that genuis that ultimately nearly destroys him. It raised interesting points for me, namely that geniuses see the world altogether differently than the rest of us. And so do those suffering from mental illness. And, in a way, aren't these two qualities in a person really the same thing?

I never saw the pace of this film as slow, and I was thoroughly captured from the very beginning. I DID find the Jennifer Connelly character and storyline rather unbelievable, and was shocked to hear that she won for best supporting actress. Russell Crowe desrved it much more - probably one of the more challenging roles in the last 5 years for any actor, and he pulled it off flawlessly.
Don't miss this film. A chilling but ultimately heartwarming and unconventional story that is full of everything - action, plot twists, nostalgia, espionage, romance, and human frailty.
9 of 10