Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: A Beautiful Mind (2001) - Howard gives mathematician John Nash the Epic Treatment

8/24/2013

A Beautiful Mind (2001) - Howard gives mathematician John Nash the Epic Treatment

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Russell Crowe stands alone as the mysterious genius in a world seemingly moving fast around him on this poster for Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind

American Nobel Prize Laureate mathematician John Nash's story is an incredible one. As told in epic biopic A Beautiful Mind, it spans from his academic years at Princeton University, his paranoia against the Russians during the Cold War as well as periods of great love and mathematical achievements.

A Beautiful Mind is made by great Oklahoman filmmaker Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon (2008)), who really hit the jackpot with this very finely made film, which is written by Akiva Goldsman (Winter's Tale (2014)), based on the same-titled 1998 non-fiction book by Sylvia Nasar (Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius (2011)).
Russell Crowe (Proof (1991)) and Jennifer Connelly (Inventing the Abbotts (1997)) both give masterful performances in the leads, and in supporting roles especially Paul Bettany (Blood (2012)) distinguishes himself as Nash's make-believe friend.
The sound, script, and entire concept of Howard's film is Epic with a capital E. The visual style is handsome and made with great ingenuity, making the film a joy to watch. The cinematography is by Roger Deakins (Thunderheart (1992)).
The epic-mindedness stands out perhaps a bit too much towards the end of A Beautiful Mind, wherein the film is tidily put into a narrative frame, and Nash quotes several of his old lines from years before, shown earlier in the film, which is a bit cheesy. - Howard is that kind of relentlessly mainstream, - sometimes entering the sentimental, - director, who at times attains greatness, which A Beautiful Mind is still a sure example of.

Related posts:

Ron Howard: Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject)
The Da Vinci Code (2006) - Howard's first Brown adaptation is a popcorn thriller hoot
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
EDtv (1999) - Phenomenal cast shine in Howard's witty mega-flop
Backdraft (1991) - Howard's giant, stupid Chicago-set firefighter movie
American Graffiti (1973) or, Cruisin' Modesto '62 (actor)

Get a sense of the film's epic determination from its trailer here

Cost: 58 mil. $
Box office: 313.5 mil. $
= Big hit
[A Beautiful Mind premiered 13 December (Beverly Hills, CA) and runs 135 minutes. Producer Brian Grazer bought the rights to Nasar's book immediately after having read an excerpt of it. He wanted Howard to direct and had to wait until the filmmaker's schedule allowed it. Shooting took place in New Jersey, including at Princeton University, and in New York from March - July 2001. 90 % of it was reportedly shot chronologically. The film veers considerably from several aspects of Nash's real life. It opened #16 to a 367k $first weekend in 11 theaters in North America, where it later spent 6 weeks in the top 5 (#2 (behind The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) -#2-#3-#3-#4-#-#5) and grossed a huge 170.4 mil. $ (54.4 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 14.2 mil. $ (4.5 %) and Germany with 13.8 mil. $ (4.4 %). Real-life Nash praised the portrayal of mathematics in the film but was unhappy with the creative licenses it took in portraying his life; especially in its making medicine the savior for him; in reality Nash battled his mental illness without the use of medicine. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 4: Best Picture, Best Actor (Crowe lost to Denzel Washington in Training Day), Supporting Actress (Connelly), Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing (lost to Black Hawk Down), Makeup (lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) and Best Score (James Horner (The Karate Kid (2010)) lost to Howard Shore for The Lord of the Rings). The film also won 4/6 Golden Globe noms, 2/5 BAFTAs, 1/4 AFI awards, 1 Grammy nomination and many other honors. IMDb's users have rated it into its top 250 list at #144, wedged in between masterpieces Room (2015) and Casino (1995). Howard returned with The Missing (2003). Crowe returned in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). A Beautiful Mind is certified fresh at 74 % with a 7.23 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of A Beautiful Mind?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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8/24/2013

A Beautiful Mind (2001) - Howard gives mathematician John Nash the Epic Treatment

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