Beautifully done

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2002)

Now this is the Russell Crowe I know and love. The Insider, L.A. Confidential... and now chalk up another calculating masterful performance.
A Beautiful Mind tells the autobiographical story of John Forbes Nash Jr. a distinguished professor from Princeton who went on to make some great theories and win the nobel prize. The centerpiece of the story is the fact that John Nash suffers from schizophrenia a debilitating condition for most people which leaves them helpless. Thus it is amazing that Nash has been able to achieve what he has. For the most part of the story his hallucinations turn out to institutionalize him at one point, when he thinks the Russians are trying to secretly send him coded messages through news publications.
First off the main performance by Crowe as Nash is amazing. This is the performance that I know he is capable of, complicated, passionate and serious, none of this gutteral one line BS that he uttered in Gladiator. Here we have a marvelous performance that Crowe spins as we watch Nash fall into despair, every twitch, eyes darting, and Nash's helplessness this is not an easy task for any actor. Nash is a recluse, almost an autistic savant, we see how he trys out his theories by writing on glass windows and stuffing himself in a corner of the library. He is seriously gifted, but a social misfit. Early on we hear how Nash describes how a grade school teacher mentioned that he was born with 2 heapings of brain but only 1/2 of heart.
Ron Howard's direction is great in exposing Nash's life. Probably the best scenes involve the use of how Nash comes up with his theories such as why the dynamics of a colleagues tie is so bad, or how a plan to get all of his college buddies laid leads to a theory that makes him famous.
Also what else can I say about Jeniffer Connely who plays his wife in the film. She is passionate and gives a full perfect 10 performance as well as the wife who is trying to survive with a husband she can't help. But the greatest achievement of this film is how it portrays mental illness from the perspective of the person suffering it.
Most films that deal with someone with a mental condition always place the focus on the people who are outside the person suffering, watching from a distance, trying to understand. Here we have a film that literaly puts us in the mind of the sufferer, as to what it is to live with such a debilitating illness. We get Nash's sense of accomplishment, but also his demons and paranoia. And probably the most important thing is that we understand that mental illness isn't something that gets cured, the people have to live with it, and it never goes away.
Also Crowe and Connely age in this film wonderfuly, so many films try to age actors/actresses in makeup and it doesn't work, but here it is done flawlessly..
Minor faults in the film deal with that some of the supporting characters are reduced to props and people we don't know, and at one point the film bogs slightly when Nash is trying to return to Princeton to study. But these points are minor since the performances of the main characters are so well done, and the stories focus is on them to begin with.
Crowe will probably get the best actor for this. Great film.
Rating 8 out of 10.