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

A Beautiful Mind

2001 Directed by Ron Howard

I need to believe that something extra ordinary is possible...

At Princeton University, John Nash struggles to make a worthwhile contribution to serve as his legacy to the world of mathematics. He finally makes a revolutionary breakthrough that will eventually earn him the Nobel Prize. After graduate school he turns to teaching, becoming romantically involved with his student Alicia. Meanwhile the government asks his help with breaking Soviet codes, which soon gets him involved in a terrifying conspiracy plot. Nash grows more and more paranoid until a discovery that turns his entire world upside down. Now it is only with Alicia's help that he will be able to recover his mental strength and regain his status as the great mathematician we know him as today..

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 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 ScreeningNotes ★★★★ 5

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 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?
Review by Andy Summers ★★★½ 1

A Beautiful Mind won the Best Picture Academy Award back in 2002, and although an engrossing and well made biopic, it robbed The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring of a well deserved Oscar. Russell Crowe's performance as mathematician John Nash is another of those incredible transformations from the Wellington born actor, who could well have bagged another statuette to add to his gong for Gladiator. The mercurial Ron Howard directs with gusto, but for a biopic, this take on Nash's life has more than a few dramatic liberties taken with some of the more important aspects of his life-story. So he was a genius, a paranoid schizophrenic, and prone to delusions, but he was good at…
Review by Filmusicinemike ★★★★½ 3

A Beautiful Mind is a beautiful film.

Russell Crowe somehow looked much younger in this than he did in Gladiator which came out a year before.

This movie was so wonderful and really plays with the audience's feelings. I was either really happy, really surprised, or really concerned. A film that directors in present cinema should make more of.

I love stories about characters like this, and really would like to see more!

Recent reviews

Review by lilytronciu ★★½

"It's called "life," John. Activities available; just add meaning."
Review by Boernz ★★★★

Spannendes hochemotionales Drama mit top Besetzung. Gehört allerdings in die Kategorie, nur beim ersten Anschauen entfachen die Twists ihre volle Wirkung. Trotzdem auch beim zweiten Mal sehenswert!
Review by ColeSilver ★★★★½ 1

A Beautiful Mind (2001) is directed by Ron Howard and stars Russell Crowe as famed mathematician John Forbes Nash in a film depicting his life, from a young man at Princeton, to a Professor at MIT, his relationship with his love Alicia (Jennifer Connelly), all the way through to his winning of the Nobel Prize in the 1990s. When the film was released in 2001 it achieved critical acclaim and won best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay at the Oscars. Having now finally seen the film I can honestly say it's as excellent as everyone has said, though it isn't without its minor flaws.

Russell Crowe delivers a transformative performance as Nash, he completely disappears into the role…
Review by bunnycreep ★★½

While it tells a beautiful story it lacks details, realism, better crafted dialogue and they took their own personal liberties with the subject matter and added clichés and to a extent some "mary sue's" I find it good (I guess it is that way so the majority of people can get into the movie).
I liked it, mainly because it left me feeling hopeful, renewed in a sense, it made me look up John Nash and well I have a soft spot for psychological movies.
Great movie.
Review by kyra ★★★

i remember watching this years ago but can only remember vague details about it. i decided to watch it again since this film was mentioned by my professor in my Clinical Psychology class yesterday; our topic was about Schizophrenia. after finally getting to sit down and watch it in attention, i can say that it is a really good film. and as a psych major, im glad i got to watch this.
Review by David Hughes ★★★★

So good.
Review by Ashkan SH ★★★★

One of the best Biography movies ever made.
Screenplay is Great. Director makes you feel close to John Nash's Life. Music is very Pleasant and the Great Russell Crowe has one his best plays here.
I am happy that such a nice Movie exists in the memory of the Great Professor John Nash (1928-2015)
Review by Fanzi ★★★½

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

以前在電視台看過片段，但從來沒認真的看過，所以其實也不知道實際在演什麼，原以為是普通的勵志片，但因為主角本身的關係，讓這部片多了些意外驚喜，羅素克洛的精湛演出讓我對部片多了深刻點。

電影在對主角本身的摹寫部分作的很好，約翰是個不擅交際的人，但有著不凡的數學天賦，對自己有著崇高的理想，他知道自己的才能很高，想將自己的才能有地方能施展並運用。

這些心思被放大於精神面，高壓力的方式讓他精神分裂出三個幻想出來的人：查爾斯是個大學室友，也是他覺得最好的朋友（給予鼓勵支持）；查爾斯的姪女、可愛的小女孩總是向他撒嬌（被需要的價值）；帕契看到他的才能將重大的任務交予給他，並施於壓力推動他（能力上的認同）。電影自然的將這些人物放入在很恰好的時機，第一次看時並無察覺，回頭來看時才知道有多麼的不自然，這是這部電影的細膩之處，以現在的眼光來看，可能會覺得他可以再動用更多手法愚弄觀眾，不過我倒覺得可貴之處在於它其實很樸實，反而容易跟著主角走。

有幾幕主角的心酸之處都有點讓我鼻酸，他無法分別真實與幻想讓他自己很痛苦，但如果吃了藥控制，他無法發揮他的才能，他唯一的專長就被剝奪了，而那些幻想出來的人都是他心理層面的需求，為了自己跟家人他必須割除「需求」，最後的告別讓我也覺得悲傷。

女主角是珍妮佛康納莉飾演的，那時的她好美阿，黑髮擦著紅色口紅，羅素克洛帶著她畫星星的片段非常浪漫。她在裡面是約翰的妻子，愛情與現實的碰撞，裡面有幾句台詞很深刻，約翰的同事索爾問她：「妳是怎麼辦到的？」，她回說：「我常感覺到＂義務＂，或是…想離開的罪惡感，背叛約翰、違背上帝…但當我看著他，我就強迫我自己去看，那個跟我結婚的男人，他就變成了那個男人，轉變成我愛的那個人，而我轉變成那個愛著他的人，儘管不是常常都是如此…但這已經足夠了。」

不禁會想起＜愛的萬物論＞，只是這部片最後的美滿成果是妻子選擇守候跟支持，即使中間有著衝突性，或許這是理想的部分，不過那句台詞道出了支持她走過去的未必是愛，大概是我覺得最寫實的部分吧。因為這是部電影，所以看的出來很多部分是為了讓電影變得好看，而並非真實。

有一幕約翰因為吃藥所以無法產生性慾，無法跟妻子做愛，妻子起身到浴室喝了口水，砸了鏡子，好像很多人都認為妻子無法被滿足所以發飆（？），但我單純只是認為剛好因為生病吃藥很多不同的影響層面被塞在一起，性愛是婚姻維持的一部分，也可能是他們的最後一個底線。

電影的後段很溫暖，滿喜歡約翰在圖書館的那個小空間，後來都在那邊做他喜歡做的事度過時光，他花費很多時間，後來也能教書了，當有個契機進入交誼廳喝茶時，大家認同他的不凡成就紛紛遞上筆給他，與前面的片段相呼應時格外感動。
Review by tashakappler ★★★

Impressed by the makeup department and the idea that somewhere out there I too can find a hot painter/math genius in the form of Jennifer Connelly.