Rating: 
Summary: --The struggle of a beautiful mind--
Review: This story caught my attention immediately and held it for the entire film. The movie is based on the life of John Nash. He was a brilliant mathematician who became famous as a young man for his work in economics.The film spans several decades and begins when John Nash arrives at Princeton University. Russell Crowe does an excellent job in the role of Nash. The part required the transformation of Nash from a young and healthy man to an aging schizophrenic. Alicia, Nash's wife is played by Jennifer Connelly. She's very convincing as an intelligent and strong woman who comes to realize that her brilliant husband is very troubled and lives in another world. One particular and lovely scene stands out in my mind where Nash and his future wife are looking at the stars. He tells her to think of different shapes or animals and he is able to look at the night sky, with its millions of stars, and link them together into whatever form she mentions. I wish there had been more scenes of that kind and maybe a little insight into Nash's family and childhood. John Nash was eventually awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Mathematics, which is some consolation, but the tragedy of his gifted mind being assaulted by delusions was something that I won't forget. I came away from this movie with a tremendous amount of compassion for John Nash. Schizophrenia is truly a horrible mental disease. This film is worth seeing and I believe that it will stand the test of time.
Rating:
Summary: Surprised the heck out of me
Review: I didn't want to watch this movie. The trailers were boring. The write-up on the DVD package lackluster and dull. When my roommate bought a copy I did everything I could to avoid watching. And for several weeks I did just that. Then came the night that I ran out of excuses. I had nothing else to do, and no other movies that I hadn't seen, so A Beautiful Mind when into the machine. And after ten minutes I was hooked. Russell Crowe really lets his acting abilities shine in this film, and Ron Howard's direction is perfect. I sat through the entire film mesmerized, and tears came to my eyes as John Nash fought back from a schizophrenia that would have incapacitated most anyone else. What a triumph! What a hero! What a role model to anyone who feels overwhelmed by their physical or mental limitations! I walked away from the movie knowing that if John Nash could find success despite an illness of that magnitude, I could overcome anything that life throws at me. There are few movies that stay with you the rest of your life, but this is one that I know I will remember forever.
Rating: 
Summary: I need to believe that something extraordinary is possible..
Review: A Beautiful Mind (ABM) has become a paramount work of Ron Howards, ranking on Internet Movie Database (IMDb) as 246 in the top 250 movies. ABM tells the story of Dr. John Forbes Nash (Russell Crowe), a young, introverted scholar. The story of Nash picks up in the late 1940's when he is at Princeton, and starting his doctoral program. Although Nash is not a stereotypical genius, his work speaks novels about his mind. Nash was once told that he was given two helpings of brains and one of heart. Soon after, Nash comes up with a genius economic theory that blasts his competition out of the water, giving him a choice on where he wants to continue his studies. He chooses Wheeler Labs in an MIT campus, where he meets Alicia Larde (Jennifer Connelly) while teaching. The love story starts immediately at this point, where Alicia starts attracting John by seeing other solutions to problems, and, in essence, challenging him. The heat of the classroom gets to the students, and Alicia stands up, opening the windows John had just closed to politely ask the construction workers to take their work elsewhere while they learn. Aww, again. All the while, John believes he has been working for the government decoding numbers that were plastered on a wall. Alicia and John start a romantic affair after they stand under the stars, connecting "dots" as stars, making little things like an octopus. Their tryst begins in a restaurant where John is late, but brings a gift for Alicia. He remembers a line from their time standing outside at the formal event about her love for colours, and the prism he gives her shows every colour in the spectrum. Of course, this is a love story, and the expected "aww!" comes here. All the while, John is fighting in his own mind with three specific characters: William Parcher (Ed Harris), Charles Herman (Paul Bettany), and little Marcee Herman (Vivien Cardone). Parcher has John convinced that the Russians are after him, and that if he dares speak to anyone about the confidential work he is engaged in, Parcher will let the Russians after him. The self-proclaimed prodigal roommate of Charles comes during John's days at Princeton during the doctoral program. Marcee is Charles' niece, and seems to be with Charles all the time. When the characters come to the realization that Nash is indeed, 'crazy in love' with his work, they also see that the people John talks about never seem to appear at social functions, such as his wedding. John is committed to a psychiatric facility while giving a guest lecture at a university. After being subjected to multiple treatments of insulin shock therapy, John finds himself competent enough to battle the illness on his own. Fast forward to 1994, John is approached by a committee which nominates him for the nobel prize in economics for the game theory. John accepts it, and gives a speech about his wife, Alicia. Aww. This movie starts out as totally intriguing one, but as much as I adore it, let us face it, it's a total love story, and I am a sap. Although this isn't a normal slap-you-in-the-face plot, the more subtle approach is cute. "I need to believe that something extra ordinary is possible...," says Alicia to John, proving her strong love for him. It was extra ordinary on how Howard pulled this film to such a beautiful presentation and plot.
Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful JOKE
Review: Let me start by saying that I went to this movie with great expectations. I am a fan of Russell Crowe and Ron Howard and had high hopes. After watching A Beautiful Mind I found it entertaining with good acting, but certainly not Oscar worthy. The strength of the movie, which most people cite as their reason for liking it, is the love between John Nash and his wife Alicia. When I learned how much the creators of this movie had rewritten the true story of John Nash, I went to see the movie again and found that it had lost its power. Essentially the story as told is almost a complete facbrication. Some reviewers say that this fact should be overlooked because the movie was never advertised as a documentary or as being true, but only based on a true story. In theory that would be fine until you look at recent history and see how other movies with similiar problems were treated in the press and by The Academy of Motion Pictures. Two years ago The Hurricane was eliminated from Oscar consideration when it was learned that the screenwriters had taken liberties with the true story of Hurricane Carter. Last year the movie The Patriot was blasted for its fabricated slant on history, and that movie was never advertised as being based on a true story. In the case of A Beautiful Mind the problems with the script are too serious to allow this film to be given special treatment from Academy voters. Lets look at what the screenwriter left out or added to make John Nash's story more audience friendly. 1. No mention is made of John Nash's numerous affairs.
2. The only problems we see in the Nash's marriage concern his mental illness.
3. No mention is made of the illegitimate child that John Nash fathered or the fact that he abandoned this child without support.
4. No mention was made that Nash and his wife got divorced.
5. No mention was made of Nash's arrest of public lewdness in a men's bathroom, or his bisexuality.
6. No mention was made of many attempts to renounce his American citizenship.
7. At the end of the movie he gives a gushy speech professing his love for his wife at his Nobel Prize acceptance. In truth this never happened...
8. When told that his monetary prize for winning the Nobel was $ 310,000.00 his comment was "The Money Could be Better." (Also in Parade, 2-24) The real John Nash and his story has almost no resemblance to the version presented on the screen. Now go watch the movie again and compare the two versions, when you do you will find that the movie is not as powerful. Its too bad that Ron Howard and the Screenwriters felt that they had to commercialize John Nash's story. I don't believe this movie deserves special treatment just because it is a Dreamworks production.
Rating:
Summary: Has the world gone mad?
Review: This is the best that Hollywood can do? This is the strongest contender for best picture of 2001? This is the winner of the Golden Globes? The world must be mad, or at least 90% of all comercial critics must be mad. What are they putting in your poppcorn Mr. Ebert? How this piece of souless comercial trash has garnered such acclaim is a mystery. Its basically a 50's biopic with a usual suspects-like twist that makes 1/3 of the movie a fake. The characters have no density, they are basically 2D cartoons. THe Hollywood sanitation department has eliminated from the story all the flaws or character traits that could have aded depth to the piece. Instead we have over two hours of the ramblings of a man who has no vitality, no lust for life, no lust for anything. Ron Howard dosen't care to make this man's achievements in math accesible to us. His inner life becomes a cruel and cheap mystery thriller. Crowe does the usual "disabled person" shtick and turns schizophrenia into a warm and cuddly disease. Ultimately he never becomes Nash, because the role is so thinly written that there isn't much to play to. Do yourself a favour and avoid this derivative, unoriginal, sanitized hollywood PRODUCT.
Rating:
Summary: Not about John Nash
Review: Did the screenwriter even read the book? Perhaps just a one paragraph summary. Nearly every important event of his life is left out, and almost none of the events in the movie are in the book. This might be an entertaining inspirational movie, if they hadn't used John Nash's name and the title of his biography. It's not about him. It is 99% fiction. The real story of his life is much more bizarre and would make a better movie. Crowe really knows how to play the part of a tortured soul, but he did it better in "The Insider". I think he could have done it here with a story actually based on the life of John Forbes Nash, Jr. I hope someone makes a movie or miniseries about the real man.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Mind Saved By A Beautiful Wife
Review: I just love John Nash, but he wouldn't BE if it weren't for his wonderful wife, Alicia. You can't help but see this was a big message in Ron Howard's choices about directing this movie. First I read the book, A BEAUTIFUL MIND. Then I saw the PBS presentation about John Nash (wonderfully done, by the way). Only then did I want to see the movie. I wanted to see John Nash and not Russell Crowe in a role. Crowe did a darn good job with a very demanding role except for his enunciation periodically when it wasn't necessary for the portrayal, but the role of Alicia, played by Jennifer Connelly, was superb. It was much truer to the Nash's reality. If she hadn't been the compassionate person she is, and Jennifer portrays this so well, John Nash would be either on the streets or dead. Ed Harris was his usual wonderful self. The "treats" were the addition of such icons as Judd Hirsch and Christoper Plummer. This DVD is well worth purchasing and I feel that the original movie might have received more notice at the Academy Awards if Crowe hadn't been acting so, mmmmmmmmm, snotty. His behavior hurt the film's chances of receiving even more of the accolades it deserves. The DVD is extremely clear and the sound is so good that my dog was set off barking frantically in one of the "top secret mail delivery" scenes. A Beautiful Job!
Rating: 
Summary: Vastly overated film - Crowe only saving grace
Review: This film details the life of brilliant Princeton professor, John Nash, and hit battle to maintain his sanity in the face of schizophrenia. After many trials and tribulations with the disorder, his work gets recognized and he receives the Nobel Prize. There are several inaccuracies in the film, while other details get left out altogether. The most glaring error? They couldn't even get Nash's theory right! The example in the movie is not a Nash equilibrium. What were they thinking? How did this screenplay win an Oscar????? The storyline is slow in spots, and borrows its main plot element from the Sixth Sense (to some degree anyway). It does work decently enough. Ron Howard showed absolutely no ability to convey emotion in this film, instead choosing to drown everything out with that hideous score any time a scene with the potential for emotional impact came along. Jennifer Connelly was ok, but her perfomance was not memorable by any means. I didn't find her performance all that believable, but I think that's more the fault of the script. There is only one redeeming quality to this film, and his name is Russell Crowe. Ironically enough, he was the one main person involved in this film not to win the Oscar (though he should have). He is the reason I find this movie to be "all right" instead of a huge disappointment. He really seems to capture the psyche of Nash, and his performance is very believable. He lays the groundwork for emotional scenes which unfortunately get ruined by Howard with that score. Only minor nitpick was that Russell looks a little too built to play Nash, The best description of this film was from something I read online (sorry, don't remember the exact source):
"That which was good, was not original. That which was original, was not good."
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad movie, too many historical inaccuracies
Review: Ron Howard's movie, "A Beautiful Mind", that showed the life of John Nash, the mathematician was a reasonable movie with good music, has passion and brings out some aspects of his life, but is too simplistic. For starts, I do not think that Russell Crowe was the right choice for that role, he is too well built for a mathematician, especially when he goes to the class in MIT. He is better suited for a muscle role. The movie has too many historical inaccuracies. While they show some aspects of John Nash as a the genius he was, as a cuddly, unworldly, lovable nerd - they do not show the dark side of him. In reality, he was a pretty ugly person. He has been guilty of "Jew bashing". During his 30-year immersion in paranoid schizophrenia, Sylvia Nassar says that Nash did indeed bombard Jewish colleagues (by whose brilliance he had always felt threatened) with letters addressing them as "Jewboys". When working in Rand Corporation, he was dismissed as a security risk. Soon afterwards, Nash had an illegitimate child, John, by a woman whom he declined to marry, supposedly on the grounds that she was beneath him socially. Supposedly, Nash's father died from the shame of it all. Shortly after John Jr's birth, Nash married one of his ex-students, the appropriately upper-crust Alicia Larde, by whom he had another son whom he also named John: John Jr 2. Films are generally terrible at showing how great ideas are arrived at. The part where he gets the idea of the equilibruim in the bar when seeing the girls and using group theory is ludicrous to anyone knowing even basics of game theory. In reality, this was a culmination of work done by a lot of brilliant minds like John von Neumann. His wife divorces him after his schizophrenia but still takes care of him. She said that he was a boarder at her home, she later remarried him when he was cured, this was also conveniently omitted in the movie. The part of how he gets cured is also oversimplified in the movie. It could have been done better. I was surprised that this movie got the best picture and best director oscars. To anyone knowing the truth behind this movie, this was laughable.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad movie, too many historical inaccuracies
Review: Ron Howard's movie, A Beautiful Mind, about the life of the mathematician John Nash is well crafted, and shows the positive sides of the brilliant person. He would have won a Field's medal but for his medical problem messing things up. The movie has the wrong actor, Russell Crowe, he does not look like a College Professor, he is too well built. It is very difficult to believe, especially in the MIT class when he arrives that he was John Nash. Any movie of a person must show all sides of the person. There was a dark side of the person, John Nash. He had been guilty of Jew-bashing. While serving in the Rand Corporation, he was dismissed as a security risk. Soon afterwards, he had an illegitimate child with a woman whom he refused to marry as she was beneath him socially. Due to this, Nash's father died of shame. Shortly after that, he married Alicia, one of his ex-students who was of his social stature. When he lost his mind, she divorced him, this is again not shown in the movie. His wife takes care of him even after divorcing him and remarries him after he gets well. She remarked that he was a boarder at her home until then. The "real" Nash, Matt Drudge asserts, has been a racist, sexually deviant, snobbish love rat. Movies are terrible about how to portray how scientific ideas are obtained. The movie does not do a good job of how he got the equilibrium idea in a bar. Nash looks at the girls and uses the group theory and Eureka, the idea pops up! In reality game theory was some thing worked on by a great many brilliant people starting from John von Neumann and resulted in this. His schizophrenia is well portrayed though. It shows the confusion in his mind, how he plays games with his wife and so on. Though it may not be real, it is done well. The movie did well and is intended as a product of fantasy and fiction and must be treated as one. It cannot go well with people who know the realities of game theory or of John Nash the person. I was surprised that this got the Best Picture Oscar as well as the Best Director. Sorry for the brutal review.
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