Review of A Beautiful Mind (2001) by Pascal V — 09 Jun 2012

Caught A Beautiful Mind on dvd. This film received plenty of Oscars in 2002, amongst others for the direction and Russel Crowe's acting. I admit, it's impressive to see "gladiator" Crowe as a schizofrenic scientist - he's quite convincing.

But honestly, apart from Crowe's acting, this is a rather melodramatic story, simplified and beautified for the big screen (the original story has some nasty twists that are ignored completely in Beautiful Mind). Ron Howard's direction is solid as always, but really not that award-worthy, especially if you compare it to for example Baz Luhrman's achievement for Moulin Rouge (from the same year, but not even nominated for an Oscar!).

But I shouldn't talk about the Oscars: lets judge the film by its own merits. A Beautiful Mind is a pretty good drama, that turns into a feel-good film in the end. Nothing more, nothing less.