::READERS REVIEWS::

The Mind Beautiful - Haunting music by James Horner. Beautiful Themes. Ron Howard has come out with a clean winner. Good performances by Russell Crowe and the beautiful Jennifer Connelly. I had not read about the Equilibrium concept of John Nash Jr. and the personal trauma he had with schizophrenia and delusions before he got the Nobel for Economics Sciences that he shared with Reinhard Selten and John Harsanyi in 1994. When I saw this film, I came to know about Nash. It was nostalgia for me as I had studied close to Princeton University at Glassboro State College (now Rowan). I had visited Princeton and almost felt that I was there when I saw the locale scenes.
I would say that Ron Howard romanticizes a bit and makes the story flashy. He could have underplayed the screenplay a bit. Yet the scenes of paranoid schizophrenia and delusions come out good with able performances by Paul Bettany as "the prodigal roommate" and the maniacal defense agent Parcher played by Ed Harris. Akiva Goldsman has written a good story on how to patch figments of a cracked imagination. The best reason to stay with the movie is Alicia Nash played by Jennifer Connelly. Her suffering comes out so well in her reading of the character. The best part of the movie is John Nash Jr.'s relationship with his wife Alicia. I am touched by the way Jennifer Connelly approaches Crowe when he is her professor and brings out her love for him. I have learnt from this film that love is patience, love is endurance, love is not just after one's own benefits and that love shines. To conclude, this film picked up the AFI best actress award for Jennifer Connelly. She also picked up the Oscar that year and the movie was the Film of the Year. James Horner has breathed life into the narrative with his compellingly mesmerising score. If not for Howard Shore's magnificent work on the Fellowship of the Ring that year, this was easily the best effort in music. A thoroughly satisfying film on the mind beautiful.

An absolutely stunning performance from Russell Crow - This film is based on the life of John Nash, the brilliant, Nobel winning mathematician and his extraordinary relationship with his wife, Alicia. I use the words `based on' deliberately as the film significantly strays from actual events and brings the spirit of Nash's life to the screen rather than being a true-to-life biopic. For those who want to learn more, I suggest Sylvia Nasar's book `The Beautiful Mind', which was also the source for the film. I do not want to say too much about the plot as if you have not yet seen the film, it will spoil the effect. The film attempts to put you inside Nash's head and experience events just as he did. For me, it worked extremely well. Try not to find out too much beforehand if you want to savour the full effect. Rest assured, however, that the film is very much about the human story of Nash and his devoted wife. The math, whilst integrated into the film in a variety of innovative and entertaining ways - the explanation of game theory has never been more interesting - remains in the background. The acting is superb: Russell Crow is revelatory in the role and how he missed out on an Oscar is hard to fathom. Jennifer Connelly did win an Oscar for her performance as Nash's wife, and the film also took best picture, best screenplay, and best director awards. They were well deserved. For a thoughtful, deeply moving, and incredibly inspiring film: this is it. If you manage to watch it without knowing too much about the contents beforehand, it can also be disorientating as well - just as Nash experienced his life.

Great Product! - It was a great experience. The product arrived earlier than expected and it was brand new.

Exelente pelicula - Una de las mejores peliculas que he visto!
Nos presenta la vida de una persona extremadamente inteligente, que padece de una enfermedade mental. Se ve por todo lo que tiene que pasar atravez de su vida, y como afecta no solo a el sino tambien a los que lo rodean.

A Beautiful Mind - Not a family movie, as I'm not sure children can fully follow or appreciate the story. It was a great gift for my parents, though. No special day, just got mentioned in conversation and I enjoyed the movie so much that I got it for them, knowing they'd enjoy it.

From the perspective of someone who is living with a menatal illness - As a person living with mental illness, I would recommend the movie "A Beautiful Mind". The film was about a man's ascension in the mathematical community, descent into his own world of paranoid schizophrenia, and ultimate heroic accomplishments while accepting his symptoms and being able to disengage himself from his delusions and hallucinations. John Nash, the movies' main character, proves he is sophisticated as well as a brave man in his quest to overcome his symptoms of mental illness while struggling to make a name for himself among collegiate peers that were considered the elite of this country's great minds. This movie also demonstrated a historical perspective in respect to therapeutic measures of the past treatment of schizophrenia. The family structure demonstrated in the movie provided an accurate and sophisticated viewpoint of how families of the time period possessed ways and means for recovery. The role of the professional in regards to the psychiatrist provided insight into symptoms associated with schizophrenia in relation to educating both patient and their families. In conclusion, John Nash proved through his Beautiful Mind, that a person living with schizophrenia does not have to settle with the struggles of daily hallucinations and proved that he could achieve amongst the highest nobility of men.

Beautifully Moving - Beautiful Mind, A (2001) ***** |C--138 min.| D: Ron Howard. Russell Crowe, Jenifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, Judd Hirsch, Anthony Rapp, Jason Grey-Stanford, Josh Lucas, Christopher Plummer. PG-13

An amazing triumph of a film about the life of famous mathematician, John Forbes Nash, Jr. (Crowe) and his battle with paranoid schizophrenia. It is both Ron Howard's and Russell Crowe's masterpiece. An absolute genius of a film. Crowe's performance is excellent. He captures the brilliance and the madness of the man he is portraying and adds the third dimension to his character, creating a moving and truly amazing performance, almost as good as Meryl Streep in SOPHIE'S CHOICE. There is not a bad moment in this film, and the movie keeps its audience captivated from beginning to end. There is a surprise around every corner, and it never dulls. The movie is a true work of art. It's a mystery, a thriller, a love story, a political thriller, a psychological horror film, all in one. Every character is crafted beautifully by Howard and his writer, Akiva Goldsman. The director's vision shines here. His use of highlights in the picture, and long, sweeping shots give this a surreal feeling like no other film. It's a touching, emotional journey full of gripping drama and an inspiring story to tell. To miss this would be a travesty. Won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Ron Howard), Best Supporting Actress (Jenifer Connelly), and two others.

Russell Crowe's best performance - This movie tells the story of mathematician John Nash who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. This film tells the story of his struggle and victory with his mental illness. It is incredibly directed, written and filmed. It is also one of the most moving films I have ever seen. This film carries a power unlike any other. Russell Crowe turns in the best performance of his career. Words cannot contain the power of his performance. He was robbed at the Oscars. Denzel Washington was great in Training Day, but nowhere near as good as this. This is one of my favorite films.
5/5

A brilliant movie with a deeper significance than many will see. - I thoroughly enjoyed 'A Beautiful Mind.' It's one of those very rare movies made for an audience of reasonably intelligent adults as opposed to low IQ inner city gangbangers with a mental age of around 12 which is what most Hollywood fare today seems to have been designed for.

The plot is different and holds our interest to the end; the camera work is technical perfection; the Princeton settings are gorgeous; and the actors are excellent with Russell Crowe giving a sensitive and totally convincing performance as the brilliant and afflicted mathematician, John Nash, a man suffering from schizophrenia.

But what exactly is schizophrenia? According to Wikipedia, it is "a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality. It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking with significant social or occupational dysfunction" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia).

This seems clear enough, since we have all been convinced of the reality of "mental" illness. But if we turn to Thomas Szasz Schizophrenia: The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry we find a highly intelligent professional psychiatrist everyone should read informing us that, not only is schizophrenia a myth, but that there is no such thing as "mental illness", the term "illness" being something that can legitimately be applied only to physical bodies and not to minds, mind being something of an entirely different order.

So what's going on? In the movie, Nash is able to overcome his schizophrenia by finally realizing that the figures he continues to hallucinate, and who seem to him to be flesh-and-blood realities every bit as real as the people around him, are wholly illusory and simply projections of his own mind.

If he had been born in the East he might have learned that the whole of reality is itself a projection of mind and entirely illusory; that his mind is only doing what it's designed to do; and that the only difference between him and others is that by some quirk his mind has added a few extra items to our shared world which only he is able to perceive.

These notions lead us into the field of non-dualistic thought and anyone interested in understanding them could do no better than to read a book such as Leo Hartong's Awakening to the Dream. Of the vast literature on non-dualistic thought, this is the simplest and clearest account I've ever found.

But to return to the movie, please don't miss it. At its best, the modern movie can and should be a work of art, and the movie 'A Beautiful Mind' certainly qualifies as that.

Schizophrenia - Curse or Blessing? - I thoroughly enjoyed 'A Beautiful Mind.' It's one of those very rare movies made for an audience of reasonably mature and intelligent adults as opposed to low IQ inner-city gangbangers with a mental age of around 14 who seem to be the target audience of most Hollywood fare today.

The plot is different and holds our interest to the end; the camera work is technical perfection with none of that faddish hand-held camera nonsense; the Princeton settings are gorgeous; and the actors are without exception excellent, with Russell Crowe giving a sensitive and totally convincing performance as the brilliant and afflicted mathematician, John Nash, a man suffering from schizophrenia.

But what exactly is schizophrenia? According to Wikipedia, it is "a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality. It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking with significant social or occupational dysfunction" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia).

This seems clear enough, since we have all been convinced of the reality of "mental" illness. But if we turn to Thomas Szasz Schizophrenia: The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry we find a highly intelligent professional psychiatrist informing us that, not only is schizophrenia a myth, but that there is no such thing as "mental illness", the term "illness" being something that can legitimately be applied only to physical bodies and not to minds, mind being something of an entirely different order.

So what's going on here? In the movie, Nash is eventually able to come to terms with his schizophrenia by realizing that the figures he continues to hallucinate, and who seem to him to be flesh-and-blood realities every bit as real as the people around him, are wholly illusory and simply projections of his own mind.

If he had been born in Asia and had come in contact with the non-dual perspective he might have learned that the whole of reality is similarly a projection of mind and entirely illusory; that his mind is only doing what is natural to it in projecting a world made entirely of Consciousness; and that the only difference between him and others is that, by some quirk, his mind has added a few extra events (which only he is able to perceive) to the world he shares with all of us. He might then have gone on to realize that, by leading him to a truer understanding of mind, what seemed to him at first to be a curse was in fact a Grace.

These notions lead us into the field of Nonduality and anyone interested in pursuing them further could do no better than to read a book such as Leo Hartong's Awakening to the Dream. Of the vast literature on Nonduality, this is the simplest and clearest account I've ever found.

But to return to the movie, please don't miss it. At its best, the modern movie can and should be a work of art, and the movie 'A Beautiful Mind' certainly qualifies as that.

my favorite movie - i love this movie. it's about a guy that goes undiagnosed with schizophrenia for years. it's more of a love story than anything.. thought provoking and emotionally raw at same time. definitely a tear jerker.

Please Mr. Tepi - The ubiquitous "inner city gangbanger" doesn't exist as such. I grant you the concept is real in the sense of being a solid idea that describes a particular phenomena. However, once investigated, this immediately falls apart. It doesn't stand up to direct personal experience the same way most categorizations do not. By the way, great movie. Please enjoy:-)

Well-acted Schlock - This is a typical Hollywood "based on real life" movie: some of the names are those of people who actually lived, but that's about as close to accuracy as it gets. The movie is a romantic gloss, a superficial ice-skate over a complex and painful story. In real life, Nash tried to escape from the USA, traveling around Europe and trying to renounce his US citizenship until the American government leaned on the French to have the poor man deported back to the States. Likewise the "treatments" Nash undergoes in the movie bear no resemblance to what happened to him in reality. And, of course, whereas in the movie his wife stays by his side through thick and thin, in real life she divorced him and left him to his fate.

So, if you want to watch a standard Hollywood schlock romance flick with a bit of fake mental-health stuff thrown in, this is the movie for you. But if you want to understand Nash and his affliction, this reasonably well-acted piece is a total distortion and therefore a waste of time.