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"A Beautiful Mind," is the story of a man who is one of the greatest mathematicians, and a victim of schizophrenia. Nash's discoveries in game theory have an impact on our lives every day. He also believed for a time that the Russians were sending him coded messages on the front page of the New York Times. It stars Russell Crowe as Nash, and Jennifer Connelly as his wife, Alicia, who is pregnant with their child when the first symptoms of his disease become apparent. It tells the story of a man whose mind was of enormous service to humanity, while at the same time betrayed him with frightening delusions. Crowe brings the character to life by sidestepping sensationalism and building with small behavioral details. He shows a man who descends into madness and then, unexpectedly, regains the ability to function in the academic world. 

Director Ron Howard is able to suggest a core of goodness in Nash that inspired his wife and others to stand by him, to keep hope and, in her words in his darkest hour, "to believe that something extraordinary is possible." It is Alicia who helps him find the heart. She is a graduate student when they meet, is attracted to his genius, is touched by his loneliness, is able to accept his idea of courtship. Nash's schizophrenia takes a literal, visual form. He believes he is being pursued by a federal agent (Ed Harris), and imagines himself in chase scenes that seem inspired by 1940s crime movies. He begins to find patterns where no patterns exist. One night he and Alicia stand under the sky and he asks her to name any object, and then connects stars to draw it. The movie traces his treatment by an understanding psychiatrist (Christopher Plummer), and his agonizing courses of insulin shock therapy. Medication helps him improve somewhat - but only, of course, when he takes the medication. Eventually newer drugs are more effective, and he begins a tentative re-entry into the academic world at Princeton. In this film it is simply a disease, which renders life almost but not quite impossible for Nash and his wife, before he becomes one of the lucky ones to pull out of the downward spiral.

For Russell Crowe, the winner of last year's Best Actor Oscar, this is another opportunity to broaden his range. Crowe successfully buries his personality beneath Nash's, allowing the character to come to the fore (a necessity, considering the actor's current load of off-screen baggage). Much as he did in The Insider, Crowe shows no difficulty inhabiting the skin of a real-life individual who has a stronger intellect than physique. And, when it comes to the sequences depicting Nash battling his demons, Crowe's performance is utterly convincing. Meanwhile, Jennifer Connelly is luminous as Alicia. Although the showier performance belongs to Crowe, it is Connelly's complex work, depicting a woman torn by love for and fear of the same man, that elevates the film to a higher level. Solid support is provided by Ed Harris and Christopher Plummer. While some scenes focus on the protagonist's rebellious, self-confident nature - other scenes effectively explore his insecurities. 

'A Beautiful Mind' successfully lures the viewer into the mind of a character who is portrayed as defining everything in his world in mathematical terms; it does so by offering visual representations that suggest his mental patterns. Furthermore, the film defines Nash as a character that demonstrates a potential for creating revolutionary theories that will ultimately reward his extreme dedication to this scientific field. The film isn't about mathematics except as a symbol. It is about human frailty and the ability to triumph over it. Universal Pictures presents the film directed by Ron Howard. Written by Akiva Goldsman based on the book by Sylvia Nasar, running time is 129 minutes. 

Oscar (2002) Awards for the movie:

published on 10th April  2002

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