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Zone's Eye View of "A Beautiful Mind" |
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Synopsis of movie, courtesy of Universal: A mathematical genius, John Forbes Nash Jr. (Crowe) made and astonishing discovery early in life and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But his prodigious career was sidetracked by problems that would have broken many men. Nash, however, fought back. He has always been driven by his quest for one truly original idea and never lost sight of that dream. After many years of struggle, he triumphed over tragedy and literally changed the world. Now for The Zone's Eye View By Laura Alber A very "tidy" movie, and a disappointment for a great director, comes in the form of "A Beautiful Mind". I have a feeling that Ron Howard got too caught up with the stars and neglected to see the "humanity" of John Nash, instead dramatizing it. Throughout the entire film, he skips around time periods, neglects to give the other roles any kind of characterization, and leaves many of the actual facts out of the story. It was a good story, and had it not been promoted as a "true story", it might have been better, and could have been expanded a little more. Instead, he decides that one of the great minds of this century, John Nash's true life and true situations aren't colorful enough, so screenwriter Akiva Goldsman decides to add his own slant on the story. The people who surround him, and embrace him, other than his wife Alicia (Jennifer Connelly), aren't even developed. And, for such a self proclaimed "loner", it would have been nice to see the people who were supportive of Nash. The entire movie was a pretentious effort to turn one man's life into a star-studded Hollywood film. Despite these disappointments, the leads; Russell Crowe, and Jennifer Connelly were solid. (Although, Crowe's West Virginia accent occasionally reverted back to his Australian dialect.) They were solid in the fact that they portrayed the characters the best they could considering the material they were working with. But, to say that either one was Oscar-Worthy is overstating their work. I've seen many other actors that were ten times better in their performances during that particular awards season. I personally thought Connelly's performance in "Requiem for a Dream" was far better than this. Much more depth and emotion were involved in "Dream". I was more impressed by the understated characters of Ed Harris and Paul Bettany. Ed Harris played William Parcher a "man in black" type government intelligence operative. Bettany ("A Knight's Tale) portrayed Charles Herman, room-mate and best friend of John Nash. His humor and demeanor were a blessing for this film. John Nash won the Nobel prize for Economics in 1994 for work he did when he was only 21 years old. His theories were used as staples in many classrooms in the best educational institutions. He battled schizophrenia for 30 years, underwent severe and harsh treatments, until he and Alicia finally decided that given time, he could control his hallucinations, delusions and paranoia on his own. They did have a child (who is seldom even talked about or seen in the film), and today live a more normal life than before. To say Nash is "cured" would not exactly be accurate, but he is able to control his life with the use of his mind, and new medications. In the film, we see Nash's reaction to the treatments, such as insulin shock and electric shock, along with mind numbing drugs. I can't blame him for taking matters into his own hands. I only wish Howard had tried a little harder to stick with the real story, and the characters, rather than focus solely on Russell Crowe (which is what it seemed to be like). Not the character Crowe was playing, but rather the "actor" himself. It also would have been better to hear the actual thoughts of others about the film instead of Ron Howard's constant "baby-sitting" of the arrogant actor who is now known best for his temper. To shove an awards producer (at the B.A.F.T.A. awards) for cutting his awards speech and hearing "Ron Howard" NOT Russell Crowe apologize and explain for the actor is just unacceptable for me. Crowe is a good actor, but not THAT good! There are plenty of hungry new actors just waiting to step up to the plate when no one wants to work with the impatient and demanding Crowe, which will most likely happen very soon. "A Beautiful Mind" could have been a good film. But, it's an "Art" film, which is not one of Howard's specialties. In the hands of another director and writer, it could have much better. I was unfortunately very disappointed in what I thought was going to be a great movie, only to find out it was merely "mediocre". The Zone gives this film a 5 out of 10.
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