A Splendid job turned in by Crowe and Howard

Rating: 8/10 (25 December 2001)

Ron Howard brings forth one of his best and most serious films to date, A Beautiful Mind. It examines a mathematical wizard named John Forbes Nash Jr. who created a discovery in game theory that is still used today for a number of things. But the film isn't so much about math (what film is?) as it is about the man's struggles with a disease in his mind that drives him to madness yet somehow is able to try and fight it to the best of his abilities, which aren't always as high as they could be. This man is played by Russell Crowe who gives another top shelve performance to add with The Insider, L.A. Confidential and Romper Stomper (Gladiator I don't really count as a top shelve performance), and he plays Mr. Nash so well it doesn't need to be thought that he's immitating him as much as being him.

Crowe's Nash starts off in the film at Princeton university where he wants to distinguish himself with an original idea and soon comes up with one that defies 150 years of mathematical practice. Things look good, especially since he starts dating a graduate student (Jennifer Connelly in an Oscar caliber performance to be sure) who is smitten with him. But then things start to get troublesome- Nash is asked by a member of the defense depot to break codes that could be in newspapers, magazines, etc to help out the government. Soon he feels paranoid the Russians are after him, and this leads him into a mental hospital (under Christopher Plummer's care) where he learns the entire consipracy is in his head (schitzophrenia). Then the plot thickens as Nash battles with his disease, medication or not.
Sometimes it's almost too much, but Howard delivers overall a great and compelling tale throughout nevertheless and Crowe shines (the rest of the cast, real or not, are also quite credible) with all the talent he has. Grade: A+ or A.