A Beautiful Mind

2001

PG-13

It has been 6 months since my last movie review and it is about time that I write another one. I have always enjoyed doing these, but when basketball season rolls around I find myself focusing on the Hornets season and fall behind on other stuff I want to write. I watched A Beautiful Mind this week and I have seen a few critically acclaimed movies over the last few weeks, but I really was interested in this particular film. I knew the minute I finished it, I wanted to write a review. This film won the Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2001 and I wanted to see if it was all it was cracked up to be. The film was based on a true story as well, so it is already at least a 7/10 in Lebo’s book. Well, with all of that being said, let’s dive in.

The film revolves around the central character of John Nash (Russell Crowe), who happens to be a new student at Princeton in 1947. He was a Carnegie Scholarship recipient in Mathematics and had a special gift with numbers. Part of his scholarship requirement was to come up with an original idea or theory. He constantly was working to craft his ideas and in turn was very awkward and even rude to those in his social circles particular with women. His roommate, Charles Herman (Paul Bettany) sort of helped him to get out of his comfort zone and see what college life was about. John and his social circle would meet at this local bar, often to try to interact with the college girls, it was there, he formulated his concept of governing dynamics and received his invite to MIT. Sol (Adam Goldberg) and Bender (Anthony Rapp) joined him.

Flashing forward 6 years later, he is asked to be a codebreaker for The Pentagon during the Cold War. Meanwhile at MIT, he is a Math professor and has an obligation to teach a class. An agent with the Department of Defense by the name of William Parcher (Ed Harris) asks John to complete some classified tasks and report his findings in newspapers and magazines in hopes of cracking a hidden message from the Soviets. When he finds something of interest, he would seal it in an envelope and take it to a mailbox in a secured location. All of the while, John grows increasingly paranoid that his cover will be blown and that he could be in danger.

During his time as a professor, he meets the love of his life, who happens to be a student of his. Alicia Larde (Jennifer Connelly) approaches him for a date and he agrees to have dinner with her. They have instant chemistry and despite Alicia thinking some of his mannerisms are definitely strange, she loves him even more for it and is amazed with his thought processes. Nash returns to Princeton and is approached by a young girl named Marcee (Vivien Cardone). The girl knows his name, and this puzzles John, but soon finds out that it is his old roommate, Charles Herman’s niece. They briefly talk about old times John tells Charles that he met a woman he really likes, and Charles says that he should marry her. John and Alicia get married, but Parcher keeps pressuring John and the situations that he is put in grow more intense. John questions a lot of his own actions and finds himself in some dangerous spots.

Shortly after all of this, John is asked to be a guest lecturer at Harvard and Charles even stops by to hear him speak. All of the while, John is increasingly paranoid as he feels that Soviet agents are surrounding him as he is giving the lecture. He panics and is chased by the “Soviet Agents”. They apprehend him, but he doesn’t go down without a fight. Although he thinks he is being captured and tortured by the Soviets, in all actuality, he is admitted to a psychiatric facility to be observed and treated. One of the “agents” was Dr. Rosen (Christopher Plummer) and informs Alicia that her husband has schizophrenia and that his episodes lately have been a result of hallucinations and his classified tasks that he has been working on were all in his head. John undergoes a series of therapy treatments for his condition and returns to somewhat of a “normal” state and has to take daily medication. The medication has side effects that make him upset at himself and decides not to take them for a period of time. He returns to his hallucinogenic state shortly afterwards and puts himself and his family in some dangerous and intense situations. The rest of the film shows John’s struggles to figure out what is real and what isn’t and how he manages to deal with those struggles.

I didn’t know a lot about this film prior to watching it this week and I think that was for the better. I knew that it was a portrayal of a man with a mental illness, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. The cast was star-studded and back in 2001, I would say most of the actors here were in their career peaks. The film was led by Russell Crowe, who was most known for The Gladiator, but many film critics say that A Beautiful Mind may be his best acting effort of his career. I don’t think I can argue against that. Jennifer Connelly was the main supporting actress and she really popped on the screen. She won an Oscar for her performance in this film and her presence was a big part of the film’s success. She is probably most known for her role in Requiem for a Dream and more recently, her role in the TNT series Snowpiercer. Ed Harris is probably most known for his roles in Apollo 13 and The Truman Show and more recently, his main role in the TV series Westworld.

Paul Bettany has been featured in the Iron Man movie trilogy and currently has a main role in the Disney+ series, WandaVision and perhaps his biggest accomplishment is his marriage to his co-star in A Beautiful Mind, Jennifer Connelly. Christopher Plummer is probably most known for his main role in The Sound of Music and he also has one of the most well-known narrator style voices in the world. Adam Goldberg is probably most known for his role in Dazed and Confused and Saving Private Ryan and Judd Hirsh was most known for his main role in the 70’s and 80’s TV series, Taxi.

If you haven’t seen this film, do yourself a favor and watch it. It was wonderfully written, and I have heard some minor things in the movie didn’t match up with John Nash’s story exactly, but regardless, the film was great. The acting efforts, especially the chemistry between Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly were phenomenal, and the direction kept me waiting to find out what was next. Ron Howard was the director of the film and I feel like most of his films are a success. The fact that the film may stray slightly away from John Nash’s biography doesn’t harm the flow of the movie at all in my opinion. For some critics, that was a big hang-up and the way I see it, I wouldn’t have had a clue or care about John Nash and his story if I hadn’t seen this film, so there’s that. The film was light-hearted and humorous at the start, the majority of it was pretty intense, and it closed out in heart-warming fashion.

I do this every time at the end of an review, but would I recommend this film? Absolutely. I agree that some people may not love it, but I can’t find many reasons to hate it. Critically acclaimed movies, especially films that have won the prestigious Best Picture at the Academy Awards always have a big target on their back and are hyped as pristine movies that are nearly flawless and, in most cases, may set some viewers up for disappointment. I didn’t find that to be the case with this film. It is rated at 8.2 on IMDb and 74% Rotten Tomatoes with a 93% Audience Score. I really enjoyed it and I can see this being a film I could watch again pretty soon.

GRADE 4.7/5

Yacs

Movie Review: A Beautiful Mind