A Beautiful Mind is a terrible thing to waste

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2002)

A Beautiful Mind
Few people ever cross paths with true genius. My encounter happened while I lived in a university dormitory. `Tom' was a gangly 17-year-old whose most distinguishing features were his penchant for missing classes, a photographic memory, and a flawless mastery of several different musical instruments. I remember vividly the day he asked me to read a History paper that dealt with Sino/Indian relations in the Cold War era. Written as Swiftian satire, it had taken him three hours to write and was one of the most insightful and brilliant things I've ever read. Although it was three months late, his professor said it was outstanding and gave Tom a first class grade. However, as the axiom states, there is a fine line between genius and insanity  I soon learned that Tom was prone to fits of manic self-destruction and substance abuse. The last I heard he was doing freelance work for Rolling Stone, had been published in several well-known literary magazines, was dabbling in heroin and was in heavy therapy.

While studying at Princeton, John Nash sets himself a simple task - find an original idea that will revolutionize mathematics. While such an undertaking reeks of hubris, it is a natural progression for John, a genius who dwells in a different world where everything, regardless of its apparent randomness is linked by theorems and patterns. He is eventually recruited to work for the Department of Defense, where he becomes enmeshed in a shadowy netherworld of spies and conspiracies and loses touch with those around him.
Warning: Potential spoilers ahead!
The fact that John Nash's findings shook the foundations of economic theory and earned him a Nobel Prize should be enough to impress anyone. What makes his story truly remarkable is that he achieved what he did while struggling with paranoid schizophrenia. The film's success ultimately rests on the lead's ability to capture Nash's tortuous journey. Whoever cast Crowe deserves a hefty bonus.
Several days before I went to the sneak preview for this film, reviewers were already gushing over Crowe's performance, and naming him as the frontrunner in the Oscar race. Never one to swallow the word of critics (I know, ironic), I reserved judgment and can now state that Crowe is, for lack of a better word, riveting. The harder Nash struggles to crack the cosmological code, the weaker his grip on reality becomes and Crowe captures this masterfully. He skillfully balances Nash's quirky brilliance and pathos as he dances between reality and insanity. Crowe pulls the viewer into this crumbling world, and avoids becoming the stereotypical slobbering `madman'.
Jennifer Connelly is lyrically beautiful as John's wife Alicia (does she ever age?). While the beginnings of their relationship seem dubious, does love ever really make sense? Connelly leaves the viewer with no doubt that Alicia was Nash's only link to the real world, tacit as it was  without her, he would probably still be languishing in a medicated stupor in some asylum. Connelly gives Alicia a soul, wringing everything she can from her lines and I feel that it was a disservice to both Connelly and her character that she was not given more substantive dialogue. Ed Harris and Paul Bettany also turn in excellent performances.
While the acting and direction in the film is exceptional, more attention should have been paid to the editing and pacing  several sections lag unnecessarily, notably the extended scenes that dwell on Nash's madness. They could have been cut down without lessening the impact. In addition, Crowe's accent, which is hard to peg, slips a few times (okay, I'm being picky, but I really notice that). The biggest `problem' is the marketing: the trailers are deceiving, leading you to believe that the film is a cloak and dagger thriller when it is so much more.
A Beautiful Mind is one of those rare films that will appeal to both casual moviegoers and cinema fans alike.