Customer Reviews
A Beautiful Film - By: Marlyly, 23 Dec 2008 
Films like this don't along often.
Theres so much I love about this film, so much that moved & inspired me as I watched, but now I come to write about 'A Beautiful Mind' I find I'm lost for words.
Lets start with the plot - Russel Crowe stars as John Nash - a brilliant mathematician who we first meet as an awkward & resevered student at Princeton univerity & who we follow through the remainder of his life. The films clearly seems to be split inot two halves - the first part, where Nash is at Princeton, best friend with his witty, charming & caring roomate, briliant & obesesed with finding his new innovativbe idea, & then later when he is head of Wheeler labs & fallsin love with Alicia (played beautifully & elegantly by Jennifer Connelly). Then the 2nd part of the films, where all of a sudden Nash's world seems to fall apart.
(SPOILERS) It is painful, for the viewer , to realise that Nash's world isn't real, as it must be for him & his wife to realise. His best firnd who he's known for years is revealed to be merely a figment of his imagination. Ron Howard has done a maginificnet jobin invokingin the viewer the same desperation & hope that Nash & Alicia must have felt - you sit on the edge of your seat hoping that its all a mistake , that there really is a consipracy, & you feel Nash's absolute despair when it turns out that two of the things he cared about nmstin his life turn out to not even exist.
There are many touching & heart wreinching momentsin this film, you have your fingers crossed & will Nash not top revert to his hallucinations again, you will Alicia to stay with him & believe he can recover from this, & thank god when she does (although the entire time you can completey understand why she would want to leave) - Nash's achievements are you achievements, his sadness & regret you sadness & regret.
It is a beautiful, powerful story & has been created close to perfection. One of my top 3 films of all time - a must see.
A brilliant film - By: Carolyn H, 22 Sep 2008 Russell Crowe gives arguably a career best performance as mathematician John Nash, who has schizophrenia. The visual hallucinations of his illness are depicted as real both for Nash & us, while the paranoid elements are given with just the right amount of off-key madness yet retaining (for Nash) a degree of reality. Crowe also portrays well the personality of Nashin his illness, for example his obsessive need to find patterns & break codes. I am looking forward to reading the book on which the film is based, & would recommend the film to everyone with even a passing interestin flawed genius.
A BEAUTIFUL FILM - By: stuart, 15 Oct 2007 A Beautiful Mind's greatest achievement,in my humble opinion, is the way it makes schizophrenia accessible to "sane" people. The general public knows schizophrenics tend to talk to themselves, repeat certain actions & do things generally at odds with the norm. But why? It's nearly impossible for a "sane" individual to understand why this happens...and more importantly, what that feels like. Without this essential empathy, many people become frustrated with the mentally ill, asking why patients can't pull themselves together & just bear up. We express this same impatience with the criminally insane who act upon delusions with disastrous results. It is incomprehensible.
A Beautiful Mind does all it can to change that, & it succeeds. Unless you are familiar with John Nash's story, you probably won't guess he's schizophrenic until part-way into the movie. He's eccentric, abrupt, & highly intelligent, but doesn't seem crazy. His delusions are as real as reality to Nash, & likewise, they are real to the audience, who cannot tell the difference between truth & delusion.
Incidentally, I came across a review from a "professional critic" who blasted A Beautiful Mind for including "all that spying stuff that had nothing to do with Nash's work that was thrownin for Hollywood thrill." I feel bad for that chap, since he missed the entire point of the film. But that just proves Ron Howard's geniusin creating a picture of insanity indistinguishable from reality.
There are some truly shocking momentsin A Beautiful Mind. When Alicia finds her husband's secret cache of newspaper clippings behind their house, I was eerily reminded of Jack Nicholson's wifein The Shining discovering his endless, typewritten pages of the same phrase. The scene that follows, culminating with Nash's realization that his delusions are indeed a false reality is brilliant. In a moment, remembering Marcee, Nash has a flash of insight, & he finally accepts his illness -- ironically, through his intellect. When Nash imagines that someone is going to harm Alicia, he lunges at her -- & only through his eyes do we see how a seemingly senseless act of violence is a gesture of love, filtered through the smog of delusion.
Now my take on the acting: Superbin every sense of the word. Russell Crowe is incredible. I can't stress that enough. There's never any question about the authenticity of his character. Crowe doesn't rely on his elaborate makeup to age Nash -- his walk, words, & voice do that elegantlyin the movie's end. Crowe will get at least another Oscar nomination out of this one. And, he better win. Jennifer Connelly is amazing as well. And when Crowe & Connelly are put together, extraordinary chemistry erupts, they just gel together, they really belong with one another. Some people have had problems with the romance part of the movie, saying that the way John & Alicia even started seeing each other wasn't very realistic & why Alicia would stay with John after he becomes distant. But, I think that maybe it started out as just a crush, you know, & the math question she showed him was just her excuse for going to his office & she already knew she was going to ask him out before hand. Maybe she's just attracted to the kind of person Nash is? Who knows? A lot of people are attracted to the "weirdest" things sometimes. The crush took over the fact that he sort of insulted her work & she still asked him anyway. When you're around someone you like so much you can't help but be fooled by them. I can't really explain it, but I can understand why she still asked him to dinner. And I guess if you love someone as much as Alicia loved John, then you would stick with them through anything. Even how distant he became, she still stuck with him.
Moving on, I think Ed Harris is, as always, great. Harris continues to prove that, simply because he's flawless. With delusions like these, no wonder Nash was torn between treatment & "spying."
Simply put, A Beautiful Mind is a film which extends far beyond the 2 hours & 15 minutes that you will spend viewing itin the theater. The characters continued to haunt me after the movie (and still do), thanks to the Oscar-inducing performances by Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly & all of the supporting players. They are not merely acting, yet are transformed into the characters, leaving no trace of a line between their part & reality.
Of course a film is only as good as a screenplay would allow, & the story contained within is writtenin a way that compliments everything that is truly great about A Beautiful Mind. Ron Howard contributes truly inspiring work to this film, & I hope that the critics remember him when awards are being given out.
All I can tell you now is that if you're looking for an emotionally-charged movie that will make you cry, but still filtersin some very funny moments as to lighten things up every now & then, with near perfect acting, cinematography, directing, editing & a screenplay which will cause the story of John Nash to inspire you, then consider A Beautiful Mind.
I hope a lot of people see this film. Not just because Russell Crowe is a hunk or because it's a Ron Howard piece, but because you will learn something important. You will learn why compassion is an absolute must when dealing with the mentally ill. You won't glare at the next person you see muttering to themselves. And when someone you love is dealing with a disorder, be it schizophrenia or depression, you won't ask them to "pull themselves together." You will understand why they need your love -- because they are just as confused as you are.
In closing, if Russell Crowe isn't awarded the Best Actor Oscar this year, then my faithin movies & its rewards system will be seriously tarnished.
Beautiful Film - By: Jay, 05 Apr 2007 You have to have appreciation for this film. Sure, it's not a day by day depiction of John Nash's real life, but it covers enough of the basics of his life that you have to realize what he went through. True, his wife did divorce himin ''real'' life, yet, if you read the biography by Sylvia Nasar, she does stay by his side to the very end...you have to agree that that takes a lot of courage & strength. To live a life so full of genius, & then to have the same thing that gives you that gift ''turn'' on you, blows my mind. John Nash achieved way morein his life WITH schizophrenia, than I ever willin my whole life. So, although the film doesn't follow the biography exactly, you have to realize that no film is exactly how the book is written...the main thing is that it shows you that there is diseases, etcin this world & this film is how one man LIVED his life with a horrible disease.
The scene where he displays how his economics thereom works is classic & I even used for my MBA exams...the following day
A beautiful performance - By: Teemacs, 03 Dec 2006 I don't get it; Russell Crowe gets a best actor Oscar for the corny (if visually impressive) "Gladiator", but misses out for this? There ain't no justice! Crowe is stunningin the role of schizophrenic mathematician & Nobel Laureate John Nash, & he's backed up by an outstanding cast. I enjoyed being fooled by this film, because we initially see things as Nash sees them - & then we begin to see that many of them aren't actually there, & we start to wonder what's real & what isn't. In a mild sense we experience the confusion that Nash himself experiences when his perceived world starts to disintegrate. Excellent!
