Review of A Beautiful Mind (2001) by Shane O — 23 Jun 2013

It has a grand and noble aim, but Ron Howard's depiction of the troubled life of John Forbes Nash Jr doesn't always hit the mark the way it should.

It's portrayal of schizophrenia as something you can get up and ignore one day is a very bizzarre one, and while I know that stems from comments that Nash himself made about "acting more sane", it probably, IMO, is not the most responsible message to send out about mental illness.

Still, this movie does have one huge strength and that is the performance of Russell Crowe as the aforementioned Nash. Crowe was acting at his peak around this time, and his portrayal of the socially awkward nature of Nash as he spiralled towards his illness was superbly done.

But like so many biopics, it wasn't enough to give the film strong appeal.