Rating: 
Summary: "An enjoyable bio-pic"
Review: Even if it was loosely translated to the screen, there was no denying the effort that those who worked in this project were quite successful. The screenplay (which is regularly accused of being sugary-coated and manipulative) actually is quite witty and at times smooth. Even if Akiva Goldsman other writing works are laughable, this is really the best work of his career (the reason why he was awarded "Best Adapted Screenplay").
The direction in A Beautiful Mind by Ron Howard is not his best work (if you want to see the direction of his career so far, look at Apollo 13) but he is good with the scenes where John Nash seems to be involved in a spy plot.
But if anything, this is an actor's movie. Considering Russell Crowe's ability to shine on the screen is more prevalent in this movie than in anything he has done, with the exception of The Insider. Jennifer Connelly does a good job in this considering the very little work she was given. The greatest thing about her performance was that her character was never intimidated by Nash and always made him question the work he did, and focused on what really matters in one's life (and that leads up to the speech at the ceremony at the end).
It won 2001 Best Picture over more "qualified" films for the title, but that didn't take away the beauty and quality of the film. 4-Stars!
Rating: 
Summary: reply to a previous review
Review: One of the reviews seems to suggest the movie should have more reality on a subject about schizophrenia, at the same time s/he recommended that Black Hawk Down should have been the movie of the year, where G.I.s were asking each others' feeling in the middle of city street where bullets fell like rain, instead of dragging them aside. Uhm, beats me!
Rating:
Summary: brilliant...beautiful
Review: this is one of the best movies I've ever seen...the fact that it's a true story makes it even more interesting and moving. great movie!! check it out!
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: This is a great movie.In fact, there is very little not to like about it. Mel Gibson is great. What an original, pleasing movie.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Gripping Movie
Review: Wow what a great movie. Interesting, dramatic, thought provoking, and captivating - no regrets
Rating:
Summary: Deserving of all of its rewards
Review: A Beautiful Mind is everything a movie should be. It's plot is nearly flawless. The cinematography fits perfectly with the film's mood. The acting is great. And it warrants many additional viewings, even after the plot twist is revealed after the first viewing. I've never been a big fan of Russell Crowe, but he is great in this role. You'll find your self going back again and again trying to pick apart the details that you have missed before. I couldn't recommend this more.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This a wonderful, and amazing movie. It changed me in a way, made me cry, made me appreciate life, and convinced me movies can actually move people. It's one of the best movies I have seen, truly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: It works, beautifullly...on many levels....
Review: This is a hard review to write. There are alot of valid negatives I have heard about this movie but I keep coming back to how I *felt* when I saw the movie and that was over-whelmingly positive. A movie is not a book and can't be and shouldn't be. Movies too true to books are rarely good movies. A movie also rarely is a good documentary... Or a good biography, for that matter. A movie is a creative thing unto itself that has to have some amount of creative liscense just because of what it is. It isn't the last word in any subject, it's not a history lesson. I think it qualifies as entertainment. That this had an overall extreamly positive message to me was a welcomed added bonus. I think John Nash is a remarkable man. I have read a few short auto-biographical pieces that he has written and they have the same wonderful yet quirky feel that I saw in Russel Crow's performance. I think perhaps the movie captured his overall gestault better than it did actual events...but than I didn't go to see a news reel. The fact is that there are remarkable people among us. And within these remarkable people are people afflicted with mental illness. To me this movie posed the questions: Does the illness allow some people to escape the bounds of the rational and see solutions that others would not consider? Does the illness itself generate the sparks of genius as well as the madness? or are they separate? Would he have been the same without the illness? When I watch TV, and every mentally person is a homeless person or accused of a crime....or not ill but claiming to have *heard voices*... it was, frankly, wonderful to see a portrayal lives touched by illness with sensitivity. To see there is actually a person beyond the illness and a family...and friends... and success. That the person is more than just the diagnosis. No, it wasn't a direct biography. Yes, there are inconsistancies. If that matters to you, than perhaps you will be let down. For me, this was an uplifting story of the stuggle of one man over mental illness and that transcended any one man...
Rating:
Summary: When truth is more powerful than fiction.
Review: Based on Sylvia Nasar's biography of the mathematical genius John Forbes Nash (born 1928), winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize in economics for his revolutionary game theory, 'A Beautiful Mind' recounts Nash's struggle with genius and with schizophrenia. Frequently and incorrectly confused with multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia involves seeing delusions. In real life the nature of Nash's delusions during his time of illness have been largely forgotten by him, and in this regard the screen-writer has taken the liberty to fictionally recreate delusions revolving around three imagined characters: a representative of the US Defence who convinces Nash to act as a code-breaker by examining popular magazines for hidden Russian codes giving clues about an imminent nuclear attack, an imagined college room mate and his young orphaned niece. But the real power of this movie is that it enables viewers to get inside the mind of a schizophreniac by making these delusions real and presenting them as an alternate reality. Nash's inner landscapes are presented as real to the audience, just as they are real to those with schizophrenia, and we are drawn convincingly into his world. Suddenly, the plot takes an abrupt turn as both movie viewers and Nash are robbed of these delusions by having the rug pulled from under them and confronted with reality. For Nash the experience is even more terrifying ' he ends up in a psychiatric hospital. To say more would spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it, but it's enough to say that the experience of the movie is like the experience of the disease. It's a brilliant concept that successfully enables us to empathize with Nash. "Imagine that you would suddenly have learned the peoples and places and moments most important to you were not gone, not dead, but worse, had never been." The movie's success is enhanced by the brilliant acting of Russell Crowe as John Nash, in a performance of pathos in the same category of the memorable acting of Rainman and Forrest Gump; and a delightful soundtrack by James Horner with haunting vocals by Charlotte Church. But this movie is just as much the story of Nash's wife Alicia (in an award winning performance by Jennifer Connelly) as it is about Nash. Despite his mental problems, she sticks by him and her love and commitment to him says a great deal about what marriage is really all about. Nash's words in the acceptance speech of his Nobel Prize point to her love as the real source of his endurance in the struggle, and it is her love that this movie is about just as much as it is about Nash's genius and illness. This positive portrayal of marriage and of the undying love of a wife is a welcome change from the typical infidelity offered by Hollywood. Her love is just as beautiful as Nash's mind. Parents should be aware that there are some incidents of blasphemy and sexual talk. But the themes of this movie in dealing with the complexity of schizophrenia are clearly adult anyway. Not only does it result in greater appreciation for John Nash, but also greater understanding and compassion for schizophrenia ' even if the portrayal of Nash's life is not entirely accurate. There are moral and historical flaws, but there's still tremendous beauty. 'A Beautiful Mind' is a beautiful film that was deservedly rewarded for its beauty with several Oscars (including 'Best Picture'), and if you're a fan of serious movies your life will be enhanced by viewing it. If only more films had this kind of beauty. 'GODLY GADFLY
Rating: 
Summary: What happened to the Nash equilibrium?
Review: First, the actors are excellent. But what happened to Sylvia Nassar's truly excellent book? In that book we learn about the world of Mathematician's and grad school at Princeton (having spent time there as a grad. student, I can tell you that the pen ritual is a bizarre and telling bit of Hollywood schmalz). By contrast, the movie never even gives the viewer a taste of flavor of Nash's Nobel winning idea, the Nash Equilibrium. The bar scene with its bizarre "game" is truly insulting (did Ron Howard believe the audience would be too stupid to understand this powerful, yet simple concept?). There is not a single PhD economist of the many I've talked to about this movie who liked it. But technical quibbling aside, why the bizarre concoctions of the move, the imagined roomate, etc. The reality, at least as presented by Ms. Nassar is grimmer and much less flashy, but makes for no less compelling a story.
My suggestion is buy the book and the "A Brilliant Madness" DVD. Then if you must , buy this Not-So-Beautiful Mind.
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