Rating: 
Summary: Magical Mind Tour
Review: The title and topic alone are enough to suggest that this is a very special movie ----not one car chase, and lots of food for thought, and maybe worry. I knew some people in the 50s and 60s who went through shock treament in dismal institutions, like John Nash did in this film
And his determination to use his considerable math and reasoning skills to work his way out of scizophrenia was very inspiring. Some critics on this web site bash director Ron Howard for not getting deep enough into the characters and the story, but hey, he and the cast and crew obviously worked very hard on this film to get it this far. And I thought his treatment kept us involved in what could have been a very lengthy, complex film which might never come together. He also demonstrated that while Nash was able to pull himself out of the depths by the force of his will and intellect, the cure was far from complete, and the struggle would be ongoing.
Let's have more movies like this. Think of all the beautiful minds out there ---contemporary and historical, and how much we could learn about everyone from Galileo to Einstein to Sagan, and many more.
I can't wait for the next film in this genre.
Rating: 
Summary: The film stands on its own
Review: I made sure I had tissues with me when I saw this in the theater! The film is well done. Putting viewers into Nash's states of mind was to me an excellent use of audience manipulation in this context. Yes, there is much missing from the film-other facets of what some would call the "real" Nash. There is some triteness, such as the ending speech. But beautiful things don't have to be complicated to be authentic; the subject matter is intense on its own without dragging a lot of other issues into it. A lot is also acted, excellently, not just thrown at the viewer: Nash's contradicting feelings of superiority and inferiority, his difficulty with emotional connections to other people, his quirks, etc. Take the movie strictly on its own merits as a depiction of someone struggling with the loss of his greatest strength--his mind--to mental illness. Read the book to get more on the man. I'm reading the book now and highly recommend both the DVD and book.
Rating:
Summary: Great film! Helped me understand!
Review: This is a great film! I never really considered, much less understood, how a schizophrenic actually believed the hallucinations that spoke to him or her. A Beautiful Mind actually allowed me to understand how this happens. The film introduces three characters as real people who were, in reality (so to speak), not there. Since the viewer is introduced to the characters as real people, it comes as quite a shock that they are hallucinations. This same shock, though infinitely deeper, was experienced by John Nash when he was told these people did not exist outside his mind. What a loss this must have been for him. Thanks to A Beautiful Mind, I have a much clearer understanding of schizophrenia. Beyond providing me with insight into Abnormal Psychology that my teachers were never able to provide, this is a great film. The storyline is magnificent, even if aspects of the true story were embellished. John Nash went from being a brilliant mathematician, to being a plagued pauper, and back - ultimately winning the Nobel Prize. All the way through this film the acting is superb. In fact, I think this is the best acting performance by Russell Crowe. It certainly has been his greatest challenge to date. I thoroughly enjoyed Gladiator, but I think A Beautiful Mind was a more challenging role. I was an extra in The Insider, and I know A Beautiful Mind was a more difficult acting assignment for Crowe. I anxiously await his next project. I believe he will get better with time. All the co-stars (Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany and Judd Hirsch) were solid performers as well. I especially enjoyed Ed Harris in the role of Big Brother. And, Jennifer Connelly was great too. Her role was very emotional and she played the part extremely well. This film deserves the acclaim and awards it won. Oscar winner for best picture, best director for Howard, best supporting actress for Connelly, and best-adapted screenplay. Now that I have seen the film, I'm not so sure that Crowe didn't get robbed of a second Oscar here. If you have not yet seen A Beautiful Mind, I do not think you will be disappointed by it. To the contrary, you will probably have a deeper appreciation for those around you after watching this film.
Rating: 
Summary: Pre-designed to win an Oscar
Review: This is the most terrible mass-appeal ... film in quite a while. Why? Because it's pretending to be something it's not. Couldn't you have guessed that already from the pretentious title?
When people are watching this it's like "let's marvel at the amazing ... and feel sorry for his perpetually tormented psyche." yay. Whoever feels they've learned something from watching this film, or been profoundly moved, they're seeing something (substance) which is not really there. Academy Awards' best film of the year, based on the true story of a great man and mathematician, the amusing thrills of his building hallucinations and the mystery of what's real and what's not, thus sharing the confused point of view with Nash - how could it not be great?
Well, I found it impossible to suspend my disbelief that this was anything more than a produced and manufactured film written at the level of a young adult fiction story which was meaningful in clothing but a stick figure underneath...or something...
There's just nothing there. I don't know what else to say. Yeah, you people feel sorry for Nash when you watch this. But if you met the real Nash you wouldn't be nearly so sympathetic. That really makes me mad. Leave the people you consider 'different' ... alone if all you want is entertainment and not actually be interested in learning anything (whether it be in an emotional, philosophical, artistic or informative sense) or at least be real with them. This ...movie was a hit and won 4 Academy Awards. ...Beautiful Mind is misleadingly presented as if it were a deep film or something. It's quite anger-inspiring, like a high school cheerleader girl who feigns confidence but is secretly insecure.
And most people don't even notice she's pretending. I bet few people will find this review helpful.
Rating: 
Summary: In my opinion...
Review: A BEAUTIFUL MIND is just a mediocre film. After seeing such brilliant films as DONNIE DARKO, MOULIN ROUGE, VANILLA SKY, LORD...RINGS, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, etc., I fail to understand why this film was nominated for anything. After seeing this film for the first time, I thought: "Well... that was okay. What's for dinner?". The next day, I had a discussion with my aunt about the real John Nash. The more I learned, the more I disliked the film. I can't believe that Academy Award winner (?!) Akiva Goldsman has the guts to take a rather intruiging life story, butcher it, and candy-coat it to make a 'nice little movie'. If only Academy Award winner (?!) Ron Howard had made this a Rated R film and included the more intimate details of Nash's life, it would have been MUCH better. Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, and Ed Harris do their best with 2-dimensional characters. I'm glad that Denzel won the Oscar for his flawless performance in TRAINING DAY, for Russell Crowe's performance was too lumpy and inconsistent. And although she had a smaller part, I think that Marisa Tomei should have won the Oscar for IN THE BEDROOM. Jennifer Connelly is an outstanding actress (see REQUIEM FOR A DREAM), but she is given absolutely NOTHING to do here, except forward the plot. And finally, we have Ed Harris, who is stuck in a role that amounts to nothing. The biggest problem I had was not with the film but with the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts & Sciences. In March 2002, the Academy gave Ron Howard the Best Director Oscar statuette, when he clearly did not deserve it. Consider the competition. With GOSFORD PARK, Robert Altman successfully juggled 23 celebrated actors and created two equally vivid worlds: the British aristocrats and their servants. With BLACK HAWK DOWN, Ridley Scott used his inventive genius to display the raw power of war. With MULHOLLAND DRIVE, David Lynch made the audience feel as if they were in a sustained, surreal nightmare that they could not wake up from. And with THE LORD...RINGS and MOULIN ROUGE, Peter Jackson and Baz Luhrmann (whom, shockingly, did not even score a nomination) transport the viewers into worlds they have only dreamed of. But, quite frankly, Howard's direction is very bland. It is good, but there is nothing very special about it. This is not to say, however, that Howard is not a great director. He is, but this was a simple misfire.
Rating:
Summary: An exceptional film!
Review: As we all know, hollywood takes a true story and adds some embellishment to it. That said, this film is one of the classics. Russell Crowe again shows why he's making the money he is to do a movie. Ron Howard's direction is admirable. A wonderful movie about life, the struggles that some people have to get through and move on. I would suggest this movie to anybody who enjoys what movies are all about.
Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful film but not an accurate one
Review: The acting in this film is wonderful and the some of the lines are very touching. However, the creators of the film took many liberties with the truth about this amazing man's life. Would have been just as exciting and interesting had they stuck closer to the facts.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good¿As A Story
Review: If you are interested in a touching character drama that casts a much-needed eye on the human condition, here's your film. The relationships that are depicted seem very coherent and organic, running the gamut of natural reactions to situations that, though rare, are at least believable. Even supporting actors seem to be putting their all into events in an attempt to make them matter to us. The skeleton of the story is drawn from real life. Gifted mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr., uncovers a previously unknown economic principle, proving that capitalism only works when vain self-interest is sometimes sacrificed to the greater good. (We all knew that, of course, but he proves it using the numbers.) He gets a plum appointment to an MIT/Defense Department project, meets and marries a girl, and then suddenly suffers a profound psychotic break. If you're not too religious about your character dramas, you'll like this one. It tries to investigate what in this world is real and what isn't; it tries to find the human core of a man who has lost touch with reality. This film won a bevy of awards, and no wonder. If you've seen it, you'll know why ...
Rating:
Summary: Ron Howard manages to kill yet another movie
Review: Amazing record by Ron Howard - has managed to ruin every movie he's directed so far. Way to go! Can take a great, cool story, and load it with triteness and cliche-ridden cinematics, pacing, and story. I was quite excited to see this movie when I bought it - I knew it was about a famous mathematician, that it had won awards (or been nominated, anyway), and I like movies and plays about math and science. And lest you think I didn't like this because it was ron howard, I didn't know it was Ron Howard when I watched it. After watching this and feeling that I had been taken for a ride, with every emotional response I'm supposed to have being telecasted to me through script and music (like a Spielberg movie but without the artistry), and being taken so far from reality, I and my friend who watched it together felt abused and misled. "Who directed this thing?" I asked. "Ah - Ron Howard. That explains why this movie, which has a great and compelling human story underlying it and could have really been a greaet movie that people would watch over time, sucks." Though I give it two stars, let me give 5 stars to the cast - incredible acting, especially from Russel Crowe. Ed Harris great as always. Rest of the cast, brilliant. This movie has some tremendous acting. It's just too bad that Mr. Howard felt the need to manipulate us, tell us what to feel and think, and tug at the emotional heartstrings intentionally, instead of letting the story itself do that for us. The story of a person's life, told truthfully and accurately, without manipulation, is *far* more compelling than any fictional story we could think to invent, and certainly far more interesting than taking a person's story and adding in some fictional components to make it "sell" to the movie public. Sorry, but the movie public just ends up feeling abused. Nash's story could be told on grainy black and white film, with the same cast, but with no special effects, and audience would be riveted, because Nash's story *itself* is riveting. Please stop adding fiction to real-life stories; please stop manipulating the viewers, Mr. Howard. On the DVD itself: 3 or 4 stars for the DVD. Lots and lots of extras, but not of much interest. The transfer of the movie onto the DVD was done *beautifully*. This is an excellent transfer. This is one for renting, not owning.
Rating:
Summary: Another Incredible Performance
Review: Another Performance that Russell Crowe deserves the Oscar for...He was mesmerizing, taking the audience on a journey into the madness of mental illness....so believable it was scary...a must see for everyone.. The love story Crowe and Connelly created was a Gem..Loved It.
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