Beautifully shot, made, acted and put across - a real gem of a film.

Rating: 8/10 (15 August 2007)

Yes, it's probably been said a million times by a million different people in a million different reviews but A Beautiful Mind really is a beautiful film. The film is smart, engaging and entertaining in its own way  even the fact it's based on a real person and loosely on a true story is even more fascinating. A Beautiful Mind is really just a life story but what a life. Dealing with mathematician John Nash (who I admit hadn't heard of before) and his life of genius and love as well as the more darker sides of his life or that of mental illness is a joy to behold and it's done in such a way that it engages the viewer, putting them there with Nash (Crowe) the whole way through.
What I really liked about A Beautiful Mind is its intelligence. The film gets straight into business as Nash starts university in 1940s America; this is where we learn the most about him although half the information we're given we're not even aware of its importance. We see that Nash is, in truth, a genius but we also see a more unnatural side to his persona. His first friendship is with a roommate called Charles (Bettany) who I noticed is pretty much the exact opposite in terms of kind of person to that of Nash. He didn't entirely fit in with his other co-students outside and thus doesn't fit in yet this 'jock' mysteriously takes to him from the off. Clever and confusing film-making that pays off later on.
Nash's and Charles' exchanges are often kept to settings where only the two of them are in immediate vicinity  the film further attempts to play with us when Charles' niece is introduced; furthering the character of Charles and further playing tricks on us for reasons that become revealed. Nash also develops throughout this segment as the 40s turn into the 50s. In all honesty, I became very suspicious of Charles the more of a friend he became and it's no coincidence that the more we see Nash doing what it is he does; the more we are tempted to label him a 'crazy' more so than 'genius'. This is due to the fact he's seen doing some pretty erratic things like multiple complex sums, tearing out magazine articles and basically trying to crack a code that isn't there. Once again, fantastic film-making  dragging you in and playing with you.
Another interesting aspect of the film is it's espionage theme. This creates conflict in the film, giving Nash a reason to do the things he does  One small thing can trigger off several large things in Nash's mind. This is evident when he visits the pentagon to crack a code yet becomes so involved in it all that another character named Parcher (Harris) becomes involved in his life. Arguably, the scenes involving Parhcer and the results of Nash's actions because of Parcher often make for the film's best and most gripping bits not to mention that they enable the film to drop its most evident clues yet regarding the truth. A further example of a small, seemingly insignificant item causing chaos is when Nash spots the word 'Soviet' in a newspaper and his illness flairs up again. These espionage scenes create the conflict as the domestic issues intensify.
A Beautiful Mind is a very powerful and well made film that just seems to feel like something Nash's life centres around: a mathematics puzzle. It's not one of those Mullholland Drive sort of visual jigsaw puzzle type films but it has the right balance of good character development, strong acting performances and intelligence that allows it to drop clues as to what might happen later.