Beautiful Mind, A (2001)
Biography | Drama | Mystery
Two-Disc Awards Edition
A Beautiful Mind is the thrilling and inspiring story of a brilliant and charismatic man ensnared by a mysterious conspiracy which takes his life and mind to places he never imagined.
Winner of 4 Academy Awards® including Best Picture, A Beautiful Mind is directed by Academy Award® winner Ron Howard and produced by his long-time partner, Academy Award® winner Brian Grazer. A Beautiful Mind stars Russell Crowe in an astonishing
performance as brilliant mathematician John Nash, on the brink of international acclaim when he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. Now, only his devoted wife (Academy Award® winner Jennifer Connelly) can help him in this powerful story of
courage, passion and triumph.
Storyline: A biopic of the meteoric rise of John Forbes Nash Jr., a math prodigy able to solve problems that baffled the greatest of minds. And how he overcame years of suffering through schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.
Written by Anonymous
User Comment: jonwoolfrey (jonwoolfrey@hotmail.com) Perth, Western Australian • I went along to the movies not really wanting to see this movie, thinking it was a 'girly' movie, one which had more technical skill rather than a
storyline. I was surprised more than anything I could imagine.
I have seen a lot of movies in my time, but this movie just took me by storm. Its uniqueness, ironically enough because it was based on a real life situation was a refreshing change from the usual Hollywood blockbuster. This movie provided a brilliant
(pardon the pun) insight into many aspects of a genius at work.
This movie touched me on many levels. The psychology of the movie was intriguing, the mathematical philosophies was actually realistic from my own experience, and the icing on the cake making the movie stand out was surprisingly the humanistic side of
Love. While love is a common basis in most movies, the interaction of this theme with other aspects of the plot was planned phenomenlly.
As for the cast, I have never noticed the actual difference in skill between many actors/actresses before. I like Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise etc, but I wouldn't be able to pinpoint a classic actor's performance. But Russell Crowe in this film showed me what
it was like to act in a way where I was in awe of his skill in playing this character, especially when considering the extreme difference from characters in his other movies such as the Gladiator and The Insider. Russell Crowe was one of the big reasons
this movie was so brilliant. Added to that the stellar performances of Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris and Adam Goldberg, and this made for the 'perfect' movie.
A Beautiful Mind was by far the most original, intelligent and entertaining movie I have ever seen. And this from a movie I didn't expect big things from. Kudos to Ron Howard, the cast and the crew of this movie. It was truly worthy of the Oscar, and
Russell Crowe was definately the most deserving of this production team to miss out on the highest accolade. Perhaps politics played a bigger part than I previously would have thought.
Summary: A movie with a difference - It's realistic.
Trivia:- The picture ends with the following statement: "Nash's theories have influenced global trade negotiations, national labor relations, and even breakthroughs in evolutionary biology. John and Alicia Nash live
in Princeton, New Jersey. John keeps regular office hours in the Mathematics Department. He still walks to campus every day."
- In 1998, Sylvia Nasar published her book about schizophrenic mathematics genius John Forbes Nash, Jr., A Beautiful Mind.
- Many studios expressed interest in the story but the book's agent, Robert Bookman of CAA, refused to sell the story without the approval of Nash. Although Universal Pictures first wanted the property, by the time Nash agreed to the story's sale,
Imagine Entertainment had teamed with Universal to buy the rights for $1 million.
- As depicted in the film, Nash, who was born in 1928, entered Princeton University's graduate school of mathematics in 1947, and two years later wrote a paper originating the mathematical principles of game theory, which eventually led to his winning
the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics.
- A Beautiful Mind is not a biography but, according to an interview given by Howard to countingdown.com, "a synthesis of many aspects of Nash's life." Other sources have noted that the film does not cover some of the less flattering details
about Nash's life, including an arrest early in his career and his 1963 divorce from Alicia, whom he remarried on 1 Jun 2001.
- According to the countingdown.com interview with screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, Crowe contributed to the development of the character of "John Forbes Nash, Jr." and to the story in general, and John and Alicia Nash approved of the script, stating that
it was "really true to the spirit of our lives."
- A Beautiful Mind also received six Golden Globe nominations, including Best Film,Drama, Best Director, Best Actor (Crowe) and Best Supporting Actress (Connelly).
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