Movie Reviews : A Beautiful Mind *WARNING SPOILERS*

As a start off, I'm going to post some stuff I've been working on lately.
I've recently realized that I love film. So, without further ado:

**DISCLAIMER**
I do not claim to be an expert at film, I just enjoy looking at film from a slightly deeper viewpoint when possible, and doing criticism helps me delve to those depths.

A Beautiful Mind
Director: Ron Howard
Leads: Russell Crowe, Jenifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer , and Paul Bettany

Basic Plot:
The plot follows the life of Economist Mathematition and Nobel Laureate John Nash.
John (Played by Russell Crow) begins the movie as a student at Princeton. He is working to find an “original” idea. While his classmates are publishing and producing ideas that are mere synthesis of others work, Jon wants to find an idea that is totally unique. He meets his roommate, one of his only ties to the human world. Charles is a great friend that helps John work out his “original” idea. While out with his friends, everything falls into place, and he comes to the realization of a lifetime. He finds what is later dubbed the “Nash Equilibrium,” and Idea that upsets 150 years of economic thinking. Things begin to fall into place . John gets a placement and along with two friends working on some theoretical and upper level math. He begins teaching a class, and meets a girl. One day after class one of his students comes into his office and asks him for a dinner date. As he begins his courtship and everything seems to be falling into place. Then John is asked to the pentagon to work on a top secret assignment. He ends up working almost full time deciphering a trail of codes that lie in common periodicals to attempt to find patterns that could lead to the tracking down of a nuclear weapon being smuggled into the country by the Russians. John asks Alicia to marry him, and soon after she gets pregnant. John talks to his contact at the government and asks to be reassigned. He is afraid for his wife and unborn child. Soon after John is giving a talk, when a “Psychiatrist.” John believes that Dr. Rosen is a soviet agent trying to capture him. It is at this point that the viewer begins to realize that not all is what it appears. We learn that John is a Schizophrenic, and a large part of his life is a hallucination. We learn that even people that are as close to him as his roommate Charles are merely figments of his imagination. We start to understand the depth of his condition. John goes under treatment to solve his condition. This causes him to go under drastic changes. He finds that it is more difficult to work, the medication dulls his creative outlook on the world. John then goes off of his medication again. This time it almost has dangerous consequences. Finally he goes back to Princeton, and decides to ignore the hallucinations even though they still haunt them. He begins taking classes and working in the library. Finally after an encounter with a bright student, he decides to begin teaching again. John is then told that he has been considered for the Nobel Prize for his original work on equilibrium and game theory. While sitting having tea with the representative from the Nobel Committee he is given the honor from his colleagues for the achievement of a lifetime. The film ends with an impassioned speech from John about the importance of his love for his wife.


Critical Review:
What starts out as a standard story arc matures into a look into life as a Schizophrenic. The film up until this point follows a fantastic, yet at the same time classic story. What begins as a simple story grows into something much more. We follow John through his early years, his marriage and his successes proffesionaly. Then the film reaches a turning point and all begins to become clear. Things that seemed harmless before suddenly take on sinister connotations. Departing from his more gritty roles in films such as Gladiator, Russell Crowe does an excellent job, truly convincing you of his love for Alicia and his genius, while simultaneously showing small tics and mannerisms that bring out his condition. The film was fascinating and though provoking, and was truly a great look at the fascinating life if John Nash. The small details start to become noticeable when it becomes apparent that all is not as it seems. For example his roommate Charles is always talking about a book by T E Lawrence, never changing his topic of study. You begin to realize that although John is changing, his hallucinations are static. These subtleties give the film a depth that is rarely seen. You feel for John in his darkest hours and rejoice when he triumphs.