Don't look now. Don't think now. Trust no-one.

Rating: Null/10 (25 March 2002)

First things first: this is clearly *not* a biopic of John Nash. So what's the story, you ask? Isn't it about the ironic combination of genius and schizophrenia? Well no, not really. Rather, it *uses* that combination to illustrate the real story, which is an allegory about those Great American Topics, conspiracy theory and The Cold War. (As such, it's entitled not to bother mentioning certain politically incorrect aspects of his personality such as his (claimed) anti-Semitism and bisexuality, so I think the critics who have been panning it for misrepresentation are missing the point.)
So, does it paint a convincing picture? Yes, undeniably. We're swept right into Nash's view of the world. Solid performances from Russell Crowe and Ed Harris with reliable occasional support from Paul Bettany and Christopher Plummer help a lot here, and although Jennifer Connelly's cardboard cut-out devoted wife doesn't add any dramatic punch, I think we can blame the scriptwriter for that. The hard maths behind Nash's early burst of genius is skipped right over, alas, but then those Hollywood folks never did care much for science and logic. (Is maths science? I can't answer that and I *am* (or was) a mathematician.)
8/10. But a Best Actor Oscar nomination? Crowe is good here, but not *that* good. Is the competition really that poor?
(P.S. I wrote that just before the Oscars. Well I was right in the end, wasn't I? But I was wrong too, about Connelly. Oh pleeeease. Good looks do not a good performance make. What a travesty.)