A Beautiful Mind

Plot

After a brilliant but asocial mathematician accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn to the nightmarish.

Release Year: 2001

Rating: 8.0/10 (205,726 voted)

Critic's Score: 72/100

Director:
Ron Howard

Stars: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly

Storyline
Biopic of the famed mathematician John Nash and his lifelong struggles with his mental health. Nash enrolled as a graduate student at Princeton in 1948 and almost immediately stood out as an odd duck. He devoted himself to finding something unique, a mathematical theorem that would be completely original. He kept to himself for the most part and while he went out for drinks with other students, he spends a lot of time with his roommate, Charles, who eventually becomes his best friend. John is soon a professor at MIT where he meets and eventually married a graduate student, Alicia. Over time however John begins to lose his grip on reality, eventually being institutionalized diagnosed with schizophrenia. As the depths of his imaginary world are revealed, Nash withdraws from society and it's not until the 1970s that he makes his first foray back into the world of academics, gradually returning to research and teaching. In 1994, John Nash was awarded the Nobel prize in Economics.

Writers: Akiva Goldsman, Sylvia Nasar

Cast:

Russell Crowe
–

John Nash

Ed Harris
–

Parcher

Jennifer Connelly
–

Alicia Nash

Christopher Plummer
–

Dr. Rosen

Paul Bettany
–

Charles

Adam Goldberg
–

Sol

Josh Lucas
–

Hansen

Anthony Rapp
–

Bender

Jason Gray-Stanford
–

Ainsley

Judd Hirsch
–

Helinger

Austin Pendleton
–

Thomas King

Vivien Cardone
–

Marcee

Jillie Simon
–

Bar Co-Ed

(as Jill M. Simon)

Victor Steinbach
–

Professor Horner

Tanya Clarke
–

Becky

Taglines:
I need to believe that something extra ordinary is possible…

Details

Official Website:
Universal [United States] |

Release Date: 4 January 2002

Filming Locations: Bayonne, New Jersey, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $60,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $2,501,096
(USA)
(23 December 2001)
(524 Screens)

Gross: $170,708,996
(USA)
(27 May 2002)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

According to a 2001 Entertainment Weekly article on this film, the filmmakers originally wanted to mention John Nash's homosexuality, but they feared the film would make the wrong connection between homosexuality and schizophrenia, so they abandoned it. This connection, according to the article, was based on several now-discredited psychological studies that first appeared in the late 1950s.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers):
Alfred Nobel's name is misspelled as "Noble" on the rostrum.

Quotes:

[first lines]

Helinger:
Mathematicians won the war. Mathematicians broke the Japanese codes… and built the A-bomb. Mathematicians… like you. The stated goal of the Soviets is global Communism. In medicine or economics, in technology or space, battle lines are being drawn…

User Review

A beautifully written, acted, and crafted movie.

Rating: 10/10

A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001) Rating: 10/10

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 and 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 and 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, and 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, and
highly intelligent, but doesn't seem crazy. His delusions are as real as
reality to Nash, and likewise, they are real to the audience, who cannot
tell the difference between truth and 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 thrown in 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 genius in creating a picture of insanity
indistinguishable from reality.

There are some truly shocking moments in 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 wife in 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, and he finally accepts his illness — ironically, through his
intellect. When Nash imagines that someone is going to harm Alicia, he
lunges at her — and 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: Superb in 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, and voice do that elegantly in 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 and 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 and
Alicia even started seeing each other wasn't very realistic and why Alicia
would stay with John after he becomes distant. But, I think that maybe it
started out as just a crush, you know, and the math question she showed
him
was just her excuse for going to his office and 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 and 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 and "spying."

Simply put, A Beautiful Mind is a film which extends far beyond the 2
hours
and 15 minutes that you will spend viewing it in 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 and 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 and
reality.

Of course a film is only as good as a screenplay would allow, and the
story
contained within is written in a way that compliments everything that is
truly great about A Beautiful Mind. Ron Howard contributes truly inspiring
work to this film, and 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 filters in some very funny moments
as to lighten things up every now and then, with near perfect acting,
cinematography, directing, editing and 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 faith in movies and its rewards system will be seriously
tarnished.