The year 2000 was a winner for the Russell Crowe vehicle Gladiator, which took home more Oscars than it rightfully deserved. This year, A Beautiful Mind has taken home one less Oscar than it deserved. It rightfully earned awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress, but failed to earn a Best Actor award for Russell Crowe. Perhaps the award would have been too generous, repeating a feat accomplished previously by Tom Hanks. The award instead went to Denzel Washington for his role in Training Day, which, while very respectful, does not measure up to the level of performance Crowe gives in this film.
The film revolves around brilliant mathematician John Nash, who searches for his original idea as a graduate student at Princeton University. He thens goes on to work at Wheeler Labs, where it is discovered, eventually, that he suffers from schizophrenia. But, the film is not about his schizophrenia. It is about a man who wanders through life searching for that original idea -- searching for a larger meaning and trying to find his place in society. Though it takes many years, Nash eventually finds his place in society.
Nash is portrayed by Russell Crowe. Crowe is an actor so stupendous that he absolutely immerses himself in his roles almost to the point of completely disappearing as an actor and becoming the person. His highly overlooked role in The Insider was one of the greatest performances of the past twenty years, which he followed up with an Oscar winning role in Gladiator, and then this gem.
The film, while taking many liberties with the factual nature of Nash's life, is an absolutely superb example of its genre -- the biopic. It spreads itself out over many years without seeming noticeable. It moves at a quick pace, without seeming rushed. And the performances culiminate in one of the most well-acted films of the year.
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