Intelligence...Good or Bad?

Rating: Null/10 (5 March 2002)

Intelligence, what can it do for you? Well there are a couple possibilities. It can either help elevate you to the next level, or it can bring you down. Both of these solutions are brought to the forefront in Ron Howard's `A Beautiful Mind.' The movie explores John Nash (Russell Crowe) who is very intelligent and his plight to be original. So just what happens when a mathematician can't solve what life throws at him? `A Beautiful Mind' is a wonderful exploration of what it means to be great to some and crazy to the rest. As the film begins you see a man who is totally engulfed in what he is doing. He is also a man that has to have a theorem to make sense of anything that he encounters. This, like many other mathematicians, would be his downfall. Upon entering Princeton, he strives to find the one thing that no one else has discovered. His only problem is where to find it. Nash would look everywhere for that one thing to bring him to the head of the class. Discovery would finally show its face as a blonde beauty in the local pub. John Nash makes headlines with his discovery and even gets the acknowledgement that he has so desperately desired by becoming a professor. While teaching he meets Alicia (Jennifer Connelly), a young woman who is actually a student in his class. After going out with her a few times Nash marries Alicia and begins living a very happy life. As he is just beginning to rise to the top, he hits rock bottom. John Nash is diagnosed as a paranoid-schizophrenic. He is now allowing that great mind of his to control his life. There are three characters that become prevalent at this time: Parcher (Ed Harris), Charles (Paul Bettany) and Marcee (Vivien Cardone.) These imaginary people in Nash's life are what both push him to the edge and inevitably bring him back.
Parcher is a man who supposedly works for the government and needs Nash's mind to break codes and read cryptographic messages. Parcher is the one person, albeit in Nash's mind, that pushes John to be more than just human. He is the literal representation of Nash's ego. Charles first appears as John's roommate in college. Charles exists to push Nash to work harder on solving his equation. He is the one that tells him it is okay to be like he appears. This is Nash's way of rationalizing his actions. Finally there is Marcee. Marcee exists to show the child within him. She shows the innocence along with the consequences of his actions if he continues to recklessly pursue his dreams. It is through these three characters that we are able to understand John Nash. `A Beautiful Mind' is a great story of the life of John Nash. It takes us on an emotional journey through the highs and lows of one of the greatest mathematicians. We are able to see what pushing ourselves to the limits and beyond can do. You can end up further behind than where you began. A story, part about being the best that you can be, and part about knowing your limits. It is through Nash's struggle with greatness and mental illness that we ultimately see true human nature. So what does happen to a mathematician who can't solve what life throws at him? He becomes great in his own mind. Then somewhere along the way he becomes great in the minds of others. Not because of what he accomplished, but how he accomplished it. It however is through this journey that he is truly able to understand what it means to be great. I introduce to you Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash Jr.