Reality?

Rating: Null/10 (23 January 2002)

I went an saw "A Beautiful Mind" right before the Golden Globes because I figured Crowe would win the best actor award, and since I was still sore about his Oscar for the horrendous "Gladiator," I knew it would be best to see his performance in something a little more challenging.
I really liked "A Beautiful Mind." I thought that Ron Howard's directing was sort of pompous and self-serving, but he made a statement and I can forgive Opie for being selfish. I really liked Jennifer Connelly and thought that she was probably the best kind of actress for the role - not too famous, but not completely wet behind the ears.
The story, however warm and bubbly, misses reality somewhere....perhaps during the "love conquers all part." Someone else commented that it is dangerous to portray the life of a Schizophrenic as being curable once the patient finds their true love. The commentator noted that is unusual for someone with such an extreme case to have love beat the odds and then they certainly wouldn't be cured because of love.
Now here is my real beef with this movie....while it is BASED on John Forbes Nash, Jr., it is not a true story. Sure, he won the Pulitzer and yes, he was married to Alicia. In real life, however, he was divorced from Alicia and he had a long-time affair with a woman who bore him a son out of wedlock. While I have no personal gripe against the man and his decisions, I think it odd that the filmmakers would alter his life so much on the screen. And would, therefore, alter the reality of Nash and his disease.
While Crowe, Opie, and the lot might pat themselves on the backs and think they made a gripping tale about the life of a Schizophrenic paranoid, I hope that viewers will look past all the hype and see that this disease is not curable with love and may cause a person to never have the opportunity for love. That would be a greater and more tragic story....something that would deserve recognition and award - not the same old Hollywood sap.