A Beautiful Mind

August 6, 2005 - This 2001 film tells the story of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash. Russell Crowe won an Oscar nomination for his performance in the title role. Jennifer Connelly won an Oscar for her portrayal of his wife, Alicia. Ron Howard took home a statue for best director, and the movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The movie follows Nash from his days as a graduate student at Princeton to his receiving the Nobel Prize some 50 years later. At Princeton, Nash is brilliant but socially awkward. He never goes to class, but instead spends his time trying to come up with a totally revolutionary mathematical theory. He does, and it earns him a spot at Wheeler Labs, a defense contractor on the campus of MIT. It's there that Nash falls for one of his students, a woman named Alicia.

Saying any more would ruin the surprise, which comes about an hour into the movie.

Overall review: **** A totally fascinating, engrossing film. Excellent performances all around and an amazing story. I've read that the film ignores or glosses over some of the less noble aspects of Nash's life. Maybe so, but don't let the facts get in the way of a great movie.