Review of A Beautiful Mind (2001) by Mimi S — 23 Mar 2014

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***.

This is a really powerful and compelling drama with an outstanding performance from Russell Crowe. Whilst the film may not stay entirely truthful to the biography that it's based on, it offers a touching insight into mental illness. Based on a true story, A Beautiful Mind is about a mathematical genuis, John Nash, who is battling with schizophrenia. John has both positive and distressing hallucinations. His more positive hallucinations include friendly and charming roomate Charles Herman (Paul Bettany) and his niece Marcee, whilst his more distressing hallucinations include working for the government to decipher codes. John believes that he is being followed and that the Russians are onto him. His boss, William Parcher (Ed Harris), who is also a figment of his imagination, blackmails him into continuing his job despite being under threat. John's schizophrenia begins to severely affect his relationship with his wife Alicia (Jennifer Connelly).

A Beautiful Mind is such a sad and powerful film. It epitomises the impact that mental illness can have on a family. John's illness puts both him and his wife in danger, for example when John nearly drowns his son as he believes that Charles is watching the baby. John is hospitalized for his schizophrenia and put on medication, but the medication leaves him feeling lifeless, lethargic and impotent so he refuses to take it and he begins to relapse. He begins to have more public outbursts at the university in which he works in. The film is heartbreaking to watch and it really makes you feel so much for John. It can be so difficult to recover from a mental illness, if ever. I suffer from mental illness myself and it's so hard to get better an it never fully goes away. John learns to live with his schizophrenia over time by ignoring his hallucinations. I liked that the film made John's hallucinations real for the audience as it helped to depict what the mind of a schizophrenic is like and how real these hallucinations are.

The film had some really strong performances from the rest of the cast including Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Ed Harris, Josh Lucas and Christopher Plummer. A Beautiful Mind is also a love story in a way as it focuses on the relationship between John and his wife Alicia who stands by him. Jennifer Connelly is phenomenal and really the best I've seen her. The only thing I didn't like about the film was that it was misleading about true events that occured in John Nash's life such as how his hallucinations started. In the film, John's hallucinations start at grad school whilst in reality they started later. In real life John and Alicia divorced, but remarried several years later. The film does not portray this. According to film makers it was not meant to be a literal representation.

This is a beautiful film and it made me want to blub, I'm not much of a crier but this really moved me. I highly recommend this film. Russell Crowe is really outstanding; I haven't seen many of his films but I really want to see other films that he's been in.

Grade: A.