Rent A Beautiful Mind (2001)

A captivating study in what it means to be a genius with his demons - A Beautiful Mind review by Philip in Paradiso

This is based on a true story. The acting is excellent -- R Crowe is impressive in this difficult part, confirming what I have always thought, i.e. that he is a very good actor. It is the harrowing story of a mathematical genius, in the USA, in the 1950s, who gets caught up in defence-related work and has to cope with his demons, helped in this by his wife.

I don't want to say any more so as not to give the story away, although, if you know the biography of the scientist it is about, you would obviously know what happened and when, since the movie is a faithful adaptation of his life's story. An unusual film, quite subtle and scary in some ways: highly recommended.

As much as I wanted to love this film, to me it was just Crowe doing an impression of Rain Man - A Beautiful Mind review by TB

Disability, when portrayed on film, can not only be an incredible and powerful way to see the world from a different perspective, but also a sure-fire awards winner. My Left Foot, The Theory of Everything and Rain Man have not only stood the test of time, but also been highly coveted by the different academies and won plenty of prizes. Whilst this might be a cynical way of approaching this review, these were the emotions that I felt when watching A Beautiful Mind.

For all Russell Crowe's incredible talent in films such as Gladiator and Cinderella Man, watching him in this was like he had played Dustin Hoffman's performance of Raymond Babbit on repeat and then tried to take inspiration from the various tics and emotions. In no way am I saying that he did not try and there are some moving moments, but the film did not work for me. So much so that I stopped watching after about an hour as I simply had no interest in finishing it.

The right elements are all there: good performances from the supporting cast, including Paul Bettany and Jennifer Conolly who met and fell in love on this film; lovely music and good cinematography. But it did not work as a film for me and sadly is not one I can whole-heartedly recommend.

Another view - A Beautiful Mind review by hya

Excellent telling of a true story.

Russell Crowe shines in the lead role.

Good pace to the flow of the film.