John Nash (Russell Crowe) is a brilliant mathematician who gets into Princeton on a prestigious degree. Obsessively working on a big and original idea for his doctorate thesis, he is often mocked by his peers due to his highly anti-social and odd behavior. His only real friend turns out to be his roommate Charles (Paul Bettany).
After a while, a night out with friends gives him the perfect idea and he gets the credit and success he deserves. Years later, he is working with his Princeton friends, Sol (Adam Goldberg) and Bender (Anthony Rapp) at MIT. There he meets a beautiful student named Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) and they start dating. However, Nash has already accepted a secret government assignment as a code-breaker, recruited by a man named William Parcher (Ed Harris) and his assignments start getting riskier after marrying Alicia. But is John’s paranoia justified?
As Nash is admitted to a mental hospital under the authority of Dr. Rosen (Christopher Plummer), both Nash and Alicia are about to face a shocking revelation…
**
A Beautiful Mind is based on the life of the mathematician John Nash, and the biographical book of the same name. Directed by Ron Howard in 2001, A Beautiful Mind is one of those rare movies where you agree that it deserved all the Oscars and Oscar nominations it received. And I definitely wish Crowe had won Best Actor. It was one of the most humane, authentic and touching performances I have ever seen on screen.
The movie won 4 Oscars: Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly), Best Director (Ron Howard), Best Film (Ron Howard & Brian Grazer) and Best Adapted Screenplay ( Akiva Goldsman). The nominations were Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Editing, Best Makeup and Best Music (James Horner). I also wish the movie had gotten the best makeup academy award – especially for what they have done with Russell Crowe.
You see, I have never been a Guy Ritchie or Christopher Nolan or Quentin Tarantino fan. Sure there have been Nolan movies that I enjoyed but as I realized once more, I will take a Ron Howard movie any day. Ron has directed Apollo 13, Ransom, Far and Away, The Da Vinci Code, Cinderella and more. Yeah, I guess I am more into old-fashioned story-telling with great actors, lovely music and an interesting story than cult appeal.
Highly recommended.
Fun Note: Co-stars Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly got married in 2003 and they have a child together.
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