FLASHBACK REVIEW: A Beautiful Mind

Originally published Jan. 31, 2002

Courtesy of Universal

(Note: This is the first review I wrote for the Times-Georgian in Carrollton, Ga. It's before I started using letter grades or including the "Quick Take" in longer articles. I'd like to think that I've become a better writer since then.)

In the past few weeks, theaters have been flooded with new releases causing quality films that have been out longer to be overlooked. A Beautiful Mind, still playing locally, is one such film. It is one of those rare Hollywood-made movies that discuss deep and complex subjects. That makes it a good movie. What makes it a great movie is the fact that it manages to discuss those subjects without making the audience feel dumb.

The fact-based movie stars Russell Crowe as John Forbes Nash, a mathematician who spends much of his time in graduate school looking for his “one original idea.” Most people think he is odd and he will be the first one to agree with them. He tells one person, “I don’t really care for people and they don’t particularly care for me.”

Nash almost flunks out of school because he spends all his time looking for his idea instead of taking part in other school activities – like actually going to class. He tells his friends that classes actually deaden the minds that they are trying to help. His friends laugh at him.

His friends stop laughing when he produces a mathematical theorem that proves accurate and changes the way people look at economics. The theorem allows Nash to choose whatever he wants to do after graduate school. He chooses two friends to work with him at a prestigious university. It is while working at the university that Nash meets two important people in his life. One is Alicia (played by Jennifer Connelly), the woman that will eventually become his wife. The other is Parcher (played by Ed Harris), a government agent who convinces Nash that his abilities are crucial to national security.

As Nash’s work for Parcher intensifies, it begins to take its effects on his life. Others around him take notice, which leads the film into a series of interesting plot twists. These plot twists see Nash through years of mental illness, personal and professional turmoil, and ultimately rehabilitation and redemption.

The performances in the film are extraordinary. Crowe’s portrayal of Nash is stirring in various ways during the movie. Throughout the movie he makes other characters love him, hate him, pity him, and eventually somewhat understand him. Crowe displays a much wider range in this movie than in Gladiator, the film that won him a Best Actor Oscar. Based on that, he will most certainly be nominated again this year. Connelly also does a great job as the wife who endures numerous hardships as she tries to help her husband in any way she can. Harris carries himself well in a role that some people will have to think about for a while after they leave the theater.

The film is directed by Ron Howard, who also directed the hits Apollo 13, Ransom, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His direction here is more of the understated low-key type of Apollo 13 than of the other movies, which were more action-driven. While there is lots of action in A Beautiful Mind it is portrayed in a subdued way. The reason for this low-key action is explained later in the movie.

The film manages to cover almost fifty years of a man’s life in a little over two hours. Howard should be commended for not making time pass in an uneven way. The film has excellent makeup to show the gradual aging of the characters. When Crowe and Connelly are in their “old age” makeup, they are virtually unrecognizable.

Howard also expresses the feel of the time periods very subtly. Other films set in the recent past seem to scream, “Hey, look at these clothes! Listen to this old music! This is the past!” A Beautiful Mind doesn’t do that. Howard lets the viewers figure it out for themselves.

Although the previews seem to set a somber tone for the movie, A Beautiful Mind is actually quality filmmaking with a solid script, very good directing, and excellent acting. It comes highly recommended.

A Beautiful Mind is rated PG-13 for intense thematic elements, sexual content, and for language.