Rated PG-13 - Running Time: 2:14 - Released 12/21/01
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
Rated PG-13 - Running Time: 2:14 - Released 12/21/01
Ron Howard, the multi-talented, omni-successful actor/director/producer
who has turned out such important and impactful films as Willow,
Parenthood, and Apollo 13, and such disposable,
silly films as Gung Ho and How
The Grinch Stole Christmas, has added another thoughtful
piece to his impressive résumé with A Beautiful
Mind, the true story of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician
and paranoid schizophrenic John Nash. Although possessing a few
noticeable flaws, Howard's latest is a touching look at the tortured,
frightening, and ultimately triumphant story of this haunted genius,
emphasizing his astounding ability to rise above the obstacles
of his own mind. One of the film's weaker points is its dialogue,
written by Akiva Goldsman, based on the book by Sylvia Nasar.
Goldsman, whose not-too-terribly impressive credits include Lost In Space and Practical
Magic, imbues the script with the kind of ridiculous genius
conversation you might have heard spoken by Mr. Peabody on Rocky
and Bullwinkle. Moreover, I am conflicted about Russell Crowe's
performance of the disturbed main character, especially early
in the film. Essaying Nash like a derivation of Hoffman's "rain
man" with a sillier walk, Crowe seems to be presenting more
of a caricature than a real, flesh-and-blood person, and making
a conspicuous effort not to look like a heartthrob. His characterization
seems to mature with time, though, as does Goldsman's text, but
the first half hour is offputting on both counts.
Beginning in 1947, the film follows Nash's induction into the
hallowed halls of Princeton University, where he meets his fellow
math geeks and begins enduring their good-natured ridicule and
intellectual competition. He also meets his new roommate, literature
student Charles Herman (Paul Bettany), who becomes an ever present
friend and tormentor, distracting him from his work while offering
honest lessons in social interaction. Feeling pressure to make
an important discovery in mathematics and become a published theoretician
like his friends, John eschews classes and toils away in his room,
obsessively scribbling complex equations on the windows, his notebook,
or wherever there is free space.
After several years have passed, John wins a university professorship
at M.I.T. and settles into teaching. Soon, however, he is approached
by a serious-looking G-man named William Parcher (Ed Harris).
Swearing John to utmost secrecy, Parcher commissions him to help
the U.S. government spy on a group of American Communists who
have begun to develop their own version of the atom bomb. According
to Parcher, John is needed to crack the codes in their communications
and thereby help foil their plan to detonate the bomb somewhere
in the U.S. At the same time, John meets and falls in love with
a young student named Alicia (Jennifer Connelly), whom he marries
against Parcher's advice. Alicia loves John for his direct manner
and his genius, but is confused by his strange obsession with
his top-secret assignment. Then, after John's aberrant behavior
leads to sedation and admission to a mental hospital, Alicia learns
the truth: there is no assignment. Parcher is a figment of John's
imagination, a product of his extraordinary but flawed brain,
and, in fact, so is his old roommate Charles. She must confront
her increasingly paranoid husband and convince him he is delusional
and needs help.
This film is a puzzlement in its inconsistency, especially coming from Ron Howard. While featuring an obvious Oscar-bid performance by Crowe, it sometimes trivializes his character's handicap. While moving through time from post-WWII to the present, it occasionally contains glaring anachronisms, both visual and textual. And while telling the story of a truly amazing and noteworthy human being, it contains dialogue no human being, mentally disabled or not, would ever speak. Still, good performances abound. Harris, who, incidentally, was Crowe's competitor for the Best Actor Oscar last year, maintains his usual intensity, and Connelly is excellent as well, subtly showing how love can rise above emotional conflict. Also present is Christopher Plummer as Nash's psychiatrist. Crowe's performance is one of the inconsistencies; while he is clearly trying to make John Nash someone we can care about, and sometimes truly shines, he occasionally seems to be fighting against conflicting impulses. Ultimately it's director Howard's responsibility to rectify this, and he doesn't do it very satisfactorily. But regardless of its lack of cohesion, A Beautiful Mind is a beautiful story and in some ways a beautiful film, one that deserves to be seen. ****