Beautiful Mind
Original Review – 2001
I’ve never been fond of Ron Howard’s direction, so I wasn’t interested in seeing this one. The movie, however, is having awards thrown at it like cavemen trying to catch a bird, so Mr. Thornhill and I finally decided to go. This one is the perfect Oscar movie - bland, bland, an actor playing a character with a mental illness and southern accent, bland, bland, cute joke, bland. It’d be a lock if only it had a sensitive prostitute. I do think it’s interesting that several scenes had the Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean effect - to show us how Nash broke codes, certain patterns would illuminate. Apparently, without the glo lights, the audience wouldn’t understand that Crowe was supposed to be thinking, we’d just think he was staring at walls. They were pretty glo lights, though, so that’s nice.
“A Beautiful Mind” is the true story of John Forbes Nash, Jr., well, as true as Dreamworks thought it should be. Nash is a brilliant mathematician who lacks any sort of social grace. As an arrogant graduate student at Princeton, Nash knows the only way to distinguish himself is by having a truly original idea. As Nash, Crowe then hands back his Oscar, crying, “Did any of you actually see ‘Gladiator?’ Did you? All I did was look annoyed and wear a smock!” Nash becomes a doctor and a highly respected member of the mathematical community. He reluctantly teaches a calculus class and is recruited by the government to code break for them, a task that begins to wear him down. His illness is diagnosed, and then it’s up to his wife and former student, Alicia (Jennifer Connelly), to try to stand by her man, even though he becomes dangerous. Emotional breakdown scenes ensue.
I’m trying to think of what I liked. I must have thought the music was okay, because I don’t really remember it. I did like how obsessed Nash was with his work, because when he was unable to continue with it, you could understand how much it hurt him.
But the thing is pretty bland. Mr. Thornhill thought it seemed more like a made-for-TV-movie. Maybe one of those Hallmark things. Nash just isn’t terribly fleshed out. He’s defined by his mathematical ability and his mental illness. That doesn’t give a full picture - the thing jumps from year to year pretty quickly, like it was trying to cover the highlights of either his math or illness. What was he doing when he wasn’t either brilliant or sick? They also try to define him by his relationship with Alicia, but I didn’t buy it. She becomes angry and depressed for quite a while, but it’s supposed to be a love story, kind of, even though there was a long stretch where they didn’t seem to like each other. And she has every right to feel frustrated with her situation, but it’s not examined because we never wander far from Nash’s math or illness. Although, she, too, had to be brilliant, because there’s no way I would have seen the umbrella in the sky if they hadn’t Billie Jeaned it. It seemed like the interesting parts of Nash’s life were sacrificed for only the dramatic moments. I mean, how did he interact with his son? Isn’t that important? I generally like Jennifer Connelly, but I thought she was really annoying during the courtship because she tried to act coy and intelligent, which meant lots of pauses and attempted meaningful glances.
I recommend this one to people who believe Cliffs Notes are just as good as reading the entire book.
*2024 Note –
New Rating - Bad
Well, I sure didn’t like this one. “Okay” seems too generous, like “Bad Teacher,” I’ve never re-watched it, so I’m updating my rating. And I haven’t watched the Oscars since…hmmm…since “The Grand Budapest Hotel” 2015 nominations.
