A Beautiful Mind

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.

• Best Picture Oscar Winner 2001.
• Best Picture (Drama) Golden Globe Winner 2001.

Critic Reviews:

• " A Beautiful Mind is Howard's best movie, and easily one of the best movies of the year. " – Christy Lemire

• " The result is one of the most successful attempts to make math look sexy, even if the movie strays – gallops, really – from the details of the actual life of Nobel Prize-winner John Forbes Nash Jr. " – Jami Bernard

• " Nash's character is perfectly suited to Crowe's ability to charm and confuse at the same moment. " – Catherine Springer