Crowe shines, Howard doesn't

Rating: Null/10 (12 January 2002)

Russel Crowe's performance is good, but not extraordinary. The problem with this movies lies with Ron Howard's direction. He turns the tale into traditional mawkish Hollywood fare. These supposedly "true" stories that Hollywood turns are so sanitized and simplified that they bear little resemblance to the actual events that supposedly provided the inspiration.
********************************MAJOR SPOILER *****************
Howard blew it by letting half the movie go by without telling readers that John Nash was in the grip of full-blown schizophrenia complete with delusions and much of what the audience was seeing was in fact imaginary. It is a lot more interesting later in the movie when we know he is mentally ill and we see him dealing with his mental illness and his delusions. This unreliable narrative voice works in a movie like Memento, but it is a cheap trick in this instance and deprives the audience of a chance to watch his schizophrenia develop.