Beautiful Mind (2001)

"Inspiring...this is as much a love story as a tale of courage.  Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
"...mainstream moviemaking at its highest, most satisfying level.  Richard Schickel, Time
"It's everything most movies this year have not been: deeply felt, genuine, gracious.  Robert Wilonsky, New Times

Editor's Note Director Ron Howard delivers his finest effort with his extraordinary film, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2001. Based loosely on Sylvia Nasar's acclaimed biography of mathematician John Forbes Nash, the film is a compelling look at one man's genius, his debilitating mental illness, and the fine line between the two. A BEAUTIFUL MIND begins with Nash (Russell Crowe) at Princeton, where he struggles to think of an original idea, and the stroke of genius that will make him matter. Nash is eccentric, socially awkward, and extremely competitive. Eventually, he finds the inspiration for his innovative and influential work on game theory. He's chosen for a post at MIT, which includes crucial code-breaking work for the US government. There, he meets a beautiful and brilliant student, Alicia (Jennifer Connelly). They marry but their happiness is threatened, as Nash, belatedly diagnosed as schizophrenic, descends into madness. Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman cannily condenses Nash's story, and the film manages to dramatize both Nash's mathematical brilliance and his schizophrenia in a compellingly visual manner. Crowe delivers a strong performance, and has real chemistry with Connelly. The two make the film's story about the power of love believable and moving.

	Ed Harris
	Jennifer Connelly
	Paul Bettany
	Russell Crowe
	Akiva Goldsman - Writer
	Brian Grazer, et. al. - Producer
	Daniel P. Hanley, et. al. - Editor
	James Horner - Original Music By
	Roger Deakins - Cinematographer
	Ron Howard - Director

New York Times
"...Mr. Crowe, with his superhuman powers of concentration, shows us a man who dwells almost entirely in an inner world, and he dramatizes that inwardness as if nobody were watching..." 12/21/2001 p.E1

USA Today
"...[Featuring] dynamic performances and extraordinary actor chemistry..." 12/21/2001 p.6E

Entertainment Weekly
"...Director and screenwriter have found a way to convey the sensation of schizophrenia from the inside out....[An] important movie..." 01/04/2002 p.46

Rolling Stone
"...[Crowe] rises to the challenge of the role with fearless integrity. He's electrifying..." 01/17/2002 p.56

Variety
"...Consistently engrossing....This serious-minded but lively film is distinguished by an exceptional performance by Russell Crowe..." 12/17/2001 p.35-40

Box Office
"...A BEAUTIFUL MIND's greatest strength is a beautiful performance by Russell Crowe..." 02/01/2002 p.57

Total Film
"...From the instant Crowe appears, it's clear this is to be a performance of faultless verisimilitude....Connelly's heart-rending performance is Best Supporting Actress material..." 03/01/2002 p.94

Chicago Sun-Times
"...Crowe brings the character to life....[He] has an uncanny ability to modify his look to fit a role..." 12/21/2001 p.29

ReelViews 9 of 10
A Beautiful Mind is a beautifully written, effectively acted, and meticulously crafted effort that is likely to remind many viewers of a simple axiom: a movie doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be compelling. Originality is a prized commodity because there is so little of it in Hollywood these days, but, when filmmakers do such a skillful job with familiar elements, their efforts should be acknowledged. Affecting without being overtly manipulative, A Beautiful Mind tells the life story of John Nash, a Nobel prize winner who struggled through most of his adult life with schizophrenia. As directed by Ron Howard, this becomes a tale not only of one man's battle to overcome his own disability, but of the overreaching power of love... - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
The Nobel Prize winner "John Forbes Nash Jr." still teaches at Princeton, and walks to campus every day. That these commonplace statements nearly brought tears to my eyes suggests the power of "A Beautiful Mind," the story of a man who is one of the greatest mathematicians, and a victim of schizophrenia...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". - Roger Ebert