A mathematical genius, John Forbes Nash Jr. (Russell Crowe) made an astonishing discovery early in life and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But his prodigious career was sidetracked by problems that would have broken many men. Nash, however, fought back. He had always been driven by his quest for one truly original idea and never lost sight of that dream. After many years of struggle, he triumphed over tragedy and literally changed the world.

A Beautiful Mind manages to twist enough pathos out of John Nash's incredible life story to redeem an at-times goofy portrayal of schizophrenia. Russell Crowe tackles the role with characteristic fervor, playing the Nobel prize-winning mathematician from his days at Princeton, where he developed a groundbreaking economic theory, to his meteoric rise to the cover of Forbes magazine and an MIT professorship, and on through to his eventual dismissal due to schizophrenic delusions. Of course, it is the delusions that fascinate director Ron Howard and, predictably, go astray. Nash's other world, populated as it is by a maniacal Department of Defense agent (Ed Harris), an imagined college roommate who seems straight out of Dead Poets Society, and an orphaned girl, is so fluid and scriptlike as to make the viewer wonder if schizophrenia is really as slick as depicted. Crowe's physical intensity drags us along as he works admirably to carry the film on his considerable shoulders. No doubt the story of Nash's amazing will to recover his life without the aid of medication is a worthy one, his eventual triumph heartening. Unfortunately, Howard's flashy style is unable to convey much of it.

Credits by Amazon.Com

Directed by
Ron Howard

Cast
Russell Crowe - John Nash
Ed Harris - Parcher
Jennifer Connelly - Alicia Nash
Christopher Plummer - Dr. Rosen
Paul Bettany - Charles
Adam Goldberg - Sol
Josh Lucas - Hansen
Anthony Rapp - Bender
Jason Gray-Stanford - Ainsley
Judd Hirsch - Helinger

Production Co.
Imagine Entertainment

Produced by
Karen Kehela-Sherwood
Todd Hallowell
Brian Grazer

Studios
Universal Pictures

Writer
Sylvia Nasar
Akiva Goldsman

Music
James Horner