Overrated Hollywood Dud....

Rating: 6/10 (26 January 2002)

I generally like Dramas that concentrate on real life events or
movies about triumphing over difficult circumstances but I believe
this movie reduced everything to a TV movie of the week mentality. The main character was unlikable, I didn't understand how his
student was even mildly attracted to such a big doofus with no
social skills and it was paint by number plotting from start to finish.
Guy meets girl, acts like an ignoramus (but he's a genius) and
they conveniently get married, he starts having problems and BAB,
she's pregnant. He starts acting strange and throwing stuff and
she gets scared. Give me a break. I've seen this countless times over and over
again. This trivializes Mental Illness to a point where I was rolling my eyes
and waiting for the credits. Its too bad that after years of working in the Business that Ron
Howard doesn't know the difference between a contrived and
cliched piece of work. the music was cranked to pull on our emotions all at the right
spots. The performances were schmultzy and overly melodramatic.
And this won a Golden Globe? Further proof that Hollywood is
corrupt. Pop Cinema at it's best.