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Jan 15, 2002 · While the film has been criticized for either eliminating or fictionalizing parts of Nash’s life, mental health experts praise its truthful portrait of his schizophrenia.
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- Overview
- Production notes and credits
- Cast
- Academy Award nominations (* denotes win)
A Beautiful Mind, American biographical film, released in 2001, that told the story of American Nobel Prize winner John Nash, whose innovative work on game theory in mathematics was in many ways overshadowed by decades of mental illness. Parts of the film, which is set largely on the campus of Princeton University against a backdrop of Cold War intrigue, are seen from Nash’s delusional perspective. The movie, directed by Ron Howard and based loosely on Sylvia Nasar’s 1998 biography of Nash, won four Academy Awards, including that for best picture.
The movie begins in 1947 at Princeton, where Nash (played by Russell Crowe) has arrived as a graduate student, together with Martin Hansen (Josh Lucas), Richard Sol (Adam Goldberg), Ainsley (Jason Gray-Stanford), and Bender (Anthony Rapp). Nash is arrogant and dismissive of his classmates but gets along with his roommate Charles (Paul Bettany). Nash generally pursues his studies alone but, when Charles suggests that he take a break and go to a bar, Nash agrees. At the bar, a discussion with his classmates as to the most successful way for them to approach a group of women leads to Nash’s breakthrough paper on game theory.
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Nash later receives an appointment to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Sol and Bender become his assistants. A few years later, he is asked to the Pentagon to decrypt coded Russian communications. His success impresses William Parcher (Ed Harris), a high-level agent in the Department of Defense. While teaching at MIT, Nash begins dating a student, Alicia (Jennifer Connelly). Parcher visits Nash to enlist him in a group of workers who scan newspapers and magazines to find hidden Russian codes embedded in the text. Nash is to leave deciphered codes in a secret drop box for Parcher. The clandestine work makes Nash nervous, but he is cheered when he reunites with his former roommate Charles. He marries Alicia soon thereafter. Some time later, Nash gets caught up in a gun battle between Parcher and several Russian agents. Terrified, he asks Parcher to be relieved of his assignment, but Parcher tells him that he would be killed if he were to quit. While giving a lecture at Harvard University, Nash sees Charles in the audience but then spots Russian agents as well, and he flees.
Nash is captured, sedated, and sent to a psychiatric facility under the care of Dr. Rosen (Christopher Plummer). Dr. Rosen tells Alicia that Nash suffers from schizophrenia and that Parcher and Charles exist only in Nash’s mind. Alicia is not convinced until she sees the inside of Nash’s office and also finds the drop box, which is full of unopened missives. Nash receives therapy, and Nash, Alicia, and their son move to Princeton. The medication makes Nash lethargic, however, and eventually he stops taking his pills. After he knocks Alicia to the ground when Parcher urges him to kill her, he and Alicia decide to find a way to live with his illness. After that, although Nash continues to see Parcher and Charles, he no longer interacts with them. Eventually, he is able to return to teaching, and in 1994 he receives the Nobel Prize.
•Studios: Universal Studios, DreamWorks, and Imagine Entertainment
•Director: Ron Howard
•Writer: Akiva Goldsman (script)
•Music: James Horner
•Russell Crowe (John Nash)
•Jennifer Connelly (Alicia Nash)
•Josh Lucas (Martin Hansen)
•Adam Goldberg (Richard Sol)
•Anthony Rapp (Bender)
•Paul Bettany (Charles)
•Picture*
•Lead actor (Russell Crowe)
•Supporting actress* (Jennifer Connelly)
•Directing*
•Editing
•Makeup
- Pat Bauer
Apr 24, 2018 · The National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) defines schizophrenia as a “chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves” (“Schizophrenia”). In the film A Beautiful Mind, protagonist John Nash experiences this disorder and its effects firsthand.
Dec 8, 2023 · For the sake of creative liberties, though, Nash's asocial personality and schizophrenia diagnosis are wrought with factual inaccuracies, and A Beautiful Mind has been criticized for everything it changes and leaves out from the true story.
Nov 29, 2023 · A Beautiful Mind has been widely praised for its sensitive and nuanced portrayal of schizophrenia. The film avoids sensationalizing the condition, instead focusing on the human cost of mental illness and the challenges faced by those living with schizophrenia and their loved ones.
- Paddy Murphy
Sep 26, 2013 · In this edition, we list everything we learned from the commentary for Best Picture-winner A Beautiful Mind. Ron Howard is at his best when he’s directing award contenders.
Dec 21, 2001 · After a 17-year estrangement, John Stier and Nash met again. Nash criticized Stier’s decision to become a nurse and urged him to go to medical school.
