Filled with paranoia, suspicion and fear, Ron Howard’s Oscar-winning film is a challenging watch. The audience is set behind the veil of the main character’s mental illness, leading viewers on a parallel search for truth. This makes for very delicate filmmaking, made even more so due to the film being based on a true story, but Howard and company are up to the task.John Nash (Russell Crowe) begins his graduate studies at Princeton and meets a colorful array of people. His roommate is wild, his friends are entertaining and women intimidate him to no end. Nash sets out to come up with a truly original idea for his thesis, leading to his groundbreaking work in mathematical economics. After making waves with his work, Nash takes a teaching position at MIT, where he falls in love with one of his students (Jennifer Connelly). Nash is also recruited to a top-secret CIA project, where he is assigned to look for Soviet codes being printed in major media publications.
Nash grows paranoid that he is being watched and followed by the Soviets, concerning his wife. His world is shattered when he is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and must work to figure out what in his life (past and present) is really real. Nash is given medication that puts a strain on his married life but when he stops taking the medication in a stubborn attempt to fight his illness on his own, he only makes matter worse. The film goes on to detail Nash’s struggle throughout his brilliant but troubled life.
I must confess that I knew the film’s twist reveal before I ever saw it. That being said, major kudos go out to both screenwriter Akiva Goldsman and director Ron Howard for the execution of the film after the twist reveal about halfway through. Despite knowing what Nash is imagining, there were times where I second-guessed what I thought was real and what was illusion. I don’t know that I’ve ever had that happen to me coming into a film that was ‘spoiled’ for me.
Russell Crowe is solid as John Nash and really nails the paranoia and mannerisms of someone suffering from this kind of mental illness. Jennifer Connelly definitely deserved the Oscar she won for her role as Nash’s wife Alicia. Her performance is as emotionally draining to watch as I’m sure it was to portray during filming. You feel bad for Nash and his struggles but you feel even worse for Alicia as her husband’s illness tears both her life and their marriage apart.
Ed Harris is perfect as CIA operative William Parcher. His cold, forceful and unforgiving manner creates a powerful antagonist. Paul Bettany is both hilarious and slightly creepy as Nash’s off-kilter roommate Charles Herman. Between these four characters, A Beautiful Mind has a foundation of rock-solid acting for the roles that matter most. The rest of the supporting cast performs adequately and everyone gets the job done (no small feat for a Hollywood film anymore).
One hang-up that could hurt audience appreciation is the pace of the second half of the film. The first half features Nash developing his whiz-bang theory and climaxes with his diagnosis. The second half drags on at times through Nash’s attempt to cope with his illness. The action rises and falls but the pace really lags, making the film feel much longer than its two-hour and 15 minute run time suggests.
Between the pacing and perhaps also being spoiled before seeing the film, A Beautiful Mind misses out on my lowest ‘great’ rating for a film. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing though. If you like biopics and human drama, you’re bound to like this film. I’ll have to see the other nominees from 2001 before I can comment on its merits as a Best Picture winner.
RATING: 3.75 out of 5
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