Well acted, but poor story telling

Rating: 4/10 (18 July 2002)

I watched the DVD, of A Beautiful Mind, over a week ago, as I had really made my mind up about the picture, I didn't write anything until now. One thing I can't dismiss was the performances of Jennifer and Russell, whom I thought were both excellent.
I'm not sure about Ron Howard's direction, it's hard to criticise Ron, as he is such a likeable chap and on the DVD, you hear him talk about the film with great dedication and passion. Having said all that I feel that this was a weak presentation of a story, rather like Apollo 13, simplistic, join the dots' film making. No real use of the camera or changes of style. Nothing in this film draws me in or surprises me, by the end of the film, you have a feeling of being let down, with the director trying to get some kind of sentimentality out, even when there isn't any naturally there.
There are, of course, two fundamental problems with this film, the story itself. A mathematician, a shy difficult genius, who suffers from Schizophrenia. Yet he has the dedication of his wife to help him through his experiences. The story isn't that interesting or at least it isn't presented as interesting. The other greater problem is the lack of truth, which is a real problem for me. The reason I see a true story' is because I really want to see the reality of the situation and what really happened, not a fictitious account. When I read, after viewing the film, that he had homosexual affairs, whilst at school and in fact he believed he was hearing from Aliens and not from people, it adds a completely different slant on things. Also the key point of the movie, in my opinion, was his wife's ability to stay with him. In reality it was her that hid his problems and it was her that had him committed to an institution and the biggest contradiction was that she divorced him.
In summary, well acted, but yet another Hollywood true story' that is far from true (Hurricane, The Perfect Storm, Braveheart, etc)
6/10