A Beautiful Movie (A Beautiful Mind (DVD))

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Product:	A Beautiful Mind (DVD)
Date:	03/04/02 (9 review reads)
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Advantages: A beautiful movie

Disadvantages: Russell Crowe

With apologies to all Russell Crowe fans, I have to admit that I have never been a big fan. I liked his work in L.A. Confidential; thought Gladiator was a good movie but grossly overrated; was very surprised that he won the Oscar for best actor last year; thought he came across as kind of a jerk in his acceptance speeches; have heard that he had his nude scenes from Proof of Life deleted because his ass looked too flabby on the big screen (not that I was looking forward to seeing it); and I could go on. Keeping this in mind, I must say that I walked into A Beautiful Mind feeling somewhat pessimistic. I really thought that it was going to be one of those movies that we are supposed to like because of who it stars, who directed it, and because it is an "intellectual" movie.

About an hour into the movie, my beliefs were confirmed. A Beautiful Mind is the story of the eccentric John Nash, a brilliant mathematician, whose knack for seeing the unseeable allowed him to be recruited by the Pentagon so he could help them break the codes for messages sent by the Soviets to operatives inside the United States. I had had a long day of Christmas shopping. I was tired. My eyes were shutting. I was just about to pack it in for the evening and this movie was doing nothing to keep me awake. The only thing of interest I saw in that first hour was John Nash's theory on men and women - how they should skip over the chitter-chatter, the dinners and all the other crap and just go to the ultimate goal of it all - sex. That theory kept me glued to the screen for a few minutes, but I still struggled to stay awake.

That is when the movie took a sudden change in direction. Nash's involvement with a shadowy intelligence officer named Parcher (Ed Harris) and his quirky college roommate, Charles (Paul Bettany) threaten to cost him everything he has - his job, his wife (played by the beautiful Jennifer Connelly, who was as outstanding as Crowe in her role) and
his child (can't tell you who played the child but he was also good in his role as a baby). It is at this point that we are treated to a movie that is everything you have heard and more.

And I have to admit one thing - if Russell Crowe is not nominated for an Academy Award for his role in this movie, there is no justice in this world. His portrayal of John Nash from his early college years at Princeton right up to his latter years (the make-up work on Crowe as the geriatric Nash is quite phenomenal) when his economic theories result in a Noble Peace Prize nomination is simply outstanding. Russell Crowe has made me a fan. And Ron Howard has made a great movie.

There will be rumblings that Howard left out many important aspects of Nash's life - his delusions of space aliens, his homosexual relationships, his alleged mistress. Despite this, I will say this - the movie I saw on the screen tonight (with no knowledge of the real story of John Nash) was excellent. It was one of the better movies that I have seen this year. For some reason, the movie Good Will Hunting came to mind, perhaps because both movies dealt with brilliant, anti-social characters. Good Will Hunting was a better movie, but A Beautiful Mind is not too far behind.

Although I must admit that the first hour of the movie drags and seems to be going nowhere, it is worth watching every minute because by the end of the movie, it all comes together in the heartfelt story of John Nash. Mark my words, you will walk out of this movie with one conclusion and one conclusion only - A Beautiful Mind is a beautiful movie. Go see it.

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