A beautiful mind is a 2001 biographical drama starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly. The movie is about John Nash’s life and his fight with schizophrenia; although several facts might have been exaggerated or invented, it is however true that the mathematician had mental problems and the movie tackles them brilliantly. Russell Crowe’s rendition of a man’s decent towards madness encompasses many different emotions that the actor portrays with great expressiveness: from shy, socially awkward and antisocial, to raging lunatic, from the defiance towards others to the disbelief for his own predicament and finally to a placid acceptance of his circumstances.
What is worthwhile to see especially in the first part of the movie is the mathematician’s motivation. There is a need to go beyond, to surpass himself, to prove not just to others that he is better, but rather to himself that his work means something. It is an ambition as well as a motivation that should be inspiring. It is the will to do better and be better and it may be applied to different aspects of life.
As a side note, I would like to add that Paul Bettany is as charming as always and his roles as “protagonist-helper” (at least for the first half) are always spot on. He has that boisterous way of playing his part, similar to the work he did in the same years with A knight’s tale (another good movie that I should write about one day or another).
I would give this movie a solid 6 out of 10 “mathematical explanation for how bad your tie is”.