Nice movie, but not great

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2002)

I've seen this movie a couple of days ago, and I kept thinking what was missing from the, ahem, picture. I mean, Russel Crowe is good - not great, but good (I'm still not sure he really deserves all the awards that've been given to him), Ron Howard is good, the music is great, Jennifer Connelly is good - but here comes the flaw: the script. It's too perfect, if you know what I mean - it's like the screenwriter avoided the real problems, he did not touch the nerve that should have been touched to give this story depth and substance. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful story - but that's just it, ultimately, it's so beautiful it's almost idyllic, it's too sweet, the problem (sic!) is too neatly solved. I had no idea that the real story of Nash's life is far from what I saw in the movie (I read this only after I saw the movie - and it really doesn't matter, a movie is a movie and it should stand judgement by itself), it didn't ring true - because it's too bloody perfect! Maybe the filmmakers didn't have the courage to get a little ugly - too bad, they could've done a really great job. Still, it's a 7 out of 10 - go see it if you have the chance.