A Top Notch Film

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2002)

Ron Howard will finally get his due. He has outdone himself - again. He has put forth some very nice films, but this one tops them all. I went into this film undecided about Russell Crowe. I was not caught up in all the over the top praise that was handed out to him and the Gladiator film and the over praise for that outing caused me to wonder about his ability. The combination of his performance in A Beautiful Mind together with his very nice showing in The Insider clearly display his credentials as one fine actor. Whether this is the best movie of a, hopefully, high quality year of good films or it is the best movie coming out at the end of a particularly lousy year for Hollywood - it qualifies either way. I wonder if we won't see Crowe miss out on an Academy Award for this one since he got the one he didn't deserve for Gladiator. We really ought to see Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor Oscars and at least a nomination or two for Best Supporting Actor (both Harris and Bettany are very good in this film) out of this Beautiful Film.