‎A Beautiful Mind (2001) directed by Ron Howard • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

A Beautiful Mind

2001 Directed by Ron Howard

He saw the world in a way no one could have imagined.

John Nash is a brilliant but asocial mathematician fighting schizophrenia. After he accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish.

Russell Crowe Ed Harris Jennifer Connelly Christopher Plummer Paul Bettany Adam Goldberg Josh Lucas Anthony Rapp Jason Gray-Stanford Judd Hirsch Austin Pendleton Vivien Cardone Jillie Simon Victor Steinbach Tanya Clarke Thomas F. Walsh Jesse Doran Kent Cassella Patrick Blindauer John Blaylock Roy Thinnes Anthony Easton Cheryl Howard Josh Pais David B. Allen Michael Esper Erik Van Wyck Rance Howard Jane Jenkins Show All…

135 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by truman segal ★★★★ 3

ugh, his mind
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

"So what am I now, a spy?"

Not only did I manage not to have this movie spoiled for me, but despite it being a favorite of my father's and girlfriend's I managed to block out the knowledge that there was even anything to spoil about it. Before the movie started my dad even said something along the lines of, "It's never the same as the first time you see it." Thank you, brain, for selectively understanding the world around me.

There's a section of this movie which is absolutely terrifying to me, more than any horror movie I've ever seen. A Beautiful Mind plays out the idea that you can't think your way out of mental illness. There's a…
Review by CinemaClown ★★★★

Winner of 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, A Beautiful Mind is an expertly crafted biopic based on the life of schizophrenic mathematician John Nash & covers his struggle with his condition. Although the artistic license taken here makes it far more cinematic than required, the film nonetheless succeeds as a touching, entertaining & satisfying experience.

Based on the novel of the same name, the story of A Beautiful Mind begins in 1947 when the young John Nash arrives at Princeton University. Eccentric but brilliant, Nash graduates with flying colours, is hired by MIT but begins exhibiting troubling symptoms of a mental illness which in the long run affects not only his personal & professional life but also those around him.

Directed by…
Review by Joe ★½ 2

How's this for a problem without a solution: who gives a shit
Review by Scott Anderson ★★★½ 5

I find the concept of expectations and whether or not they are met to be fascinating, especially in regards to film criticism. Last night I finally saw the 2002 Best Picture winner A Beautiful Mind for the first time, a mere 12 years after its release, and without a doubt it is a very good film, one that was elevated to that level through pretty great performances throughout but especially from the two leads. Russell Crowe is John Forbes Nash Jr. and Jennifer Connelly is Alicia, a student in his class that stuns Nash not just with her beauty but also the bold move she makes to solve a noise/temperature problem on his first day as her teacher. I truly…
Review by Dave ★★★★

Before "Noah" came along, Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly owned this highly entertaining drama about the life of John Nash. Rather than play it like a straight biopic, Ron Howard chose to go inside Nash’s schizophrenic mind, and the results are dazzling.

Crowe, disappearing once again, adds another enigmatic role to his roster of great performances. He should have won Oscars for "The Insider" and this film, not for "Gladiator," but I digress. He's easily one of our best actors-slash-movie stars in the business.

And Jennifer Connelly? Well, dammit, she can do no wrong, can she?

Recent reviews

Review by ChrisNolan69 ★★★★★

And just like that Russell Crowe jumps to #1 in my list of favorite actors. Gladiator, Cinderella Man, and now this! 🐐
Review by jonah ★★★★½

russell crowe i’m sorry for everything i said after les mis
Review by Carlos ★★★★

My girlfriend spilled lemonade on my pants watching this in Psychology
Review by Nick van Lieshout ★★★

You ever notice how if a movie changes genres halfway through it usually goes from grounded to fantastical? (think FROM DUSK TIL DAWN) Rare is it that a movie which begins in the fantastical slowly strips away its genre elements until it becomes grounded. A BEAUTIFUL MIND might be the only one I can think of, effectively starting as a 1950s Cold War thriller before turning into a kitchen sink drama. Somehow, this switch is when I became *more* engaged in the movie.
Review by Justin Chaney ★★★★

Walking into my Psych Class to see a sub and this playing was great. Especially since I had no context or spoilers coming into this movie. Some cheesy ass finale shit but fuck me that twist hit me harder than my realization of self worth.
Review by tieare ★★★★

While I understand all the criticism this film got, including from my fav filmmaker, PTA, I still love it. Sorry dad.
Review by Leisure ★★★★½

Without knowing the story or the man behind this film, I was gripped and nervous about the fortunes of our titular character. Russell Crowe really just kills this role. What a beautiful, nerve-wracking film.
Review by Christian Corbett ★★

C

Russel Crowe is not very good here. The whole time I kept seeing Russel Crowe trying hard to act ad it was extremely distracting.

The pacing in this film is all over the place. The story ever stays all the interesting long, maybe they were relying more on the character relationships to hold a lot of the story, but like I said, Russel Crowe was not all that good or believable here, so the character investment isn't all that strong here.

This movie takes for ever to end. They tack on more and more and more and more information towards the end. Information that I don't even think was all that important or necessary to the plot.

There are some good ideas here, and some decent scenes mixed in the film, but the film as a whole has major weaknesses, and they show.

I would suggest skipping this one.
Review by jordan ★★★★

watched this in my statistics class and would just like to say i’d take a bullet for Jennifer Connelly in this film, and that’s all! :)