A Beautiful Mind (2001)

After a brilliant but asocial mathematician accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn to the nightmarish.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

Akiva Goldsman, Sylvia Nasar (book)

Stars:

Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly

Top 250 #193 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 28 wins & 51 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Russell Crowe	...	John Nash
Ed Harris	...	Parcher
Jennifer Connelly	...	Alicia Nash
Christopher Plummer	...	Dr. Rosen
Paul Bettany	...	Charles
Adam Goldberg	...	Sol
Josh Lucas	...	Hansen
Anthony Rapp	...	Bender
Jason Gray-Stanford	...	Ainsley
Judd Hirsch	...	Helinger
Austin Pendleton	...	Thomas King
Vivien Cardone	...	Marcee
Jillie Simon	...	Bar Co-Ed (as Jill M. Simon)
Victor Steinbach	...	Professor Horner
Tanya Clarke	...	Becky

Storyline

A biopic of the meteoric rise of John Forbes Nash Jr., a math prodigy able to solve problems that baffled the greatest of minds. And how he overcame years of suffering through schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.

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Plot Keywords:

Student | Nobel Prize | Teaching | Mathematician | School | 

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Taglines:

Wenn die Realität sich gegen Dich verschworen hat, ist nichts mehr sicher... (If reality has ganged up on you, nothing is safe anymore...)

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, sexual content and a scene of violence

Details

Official Sites:

Universal [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 January 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Una mente brillante

Filming Locations:

Bayonne, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$977,271 (France) (15 February 2002)

Gross:

$170,708,996 (USA) (24 May 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After coming up with the idea for his revolutionary paper, John Nash goes and shows a manuscript of it to Helinger (Judd Hirsch). The manuscript is an actual copy of the original article, published in the specialized journal "Econometrica", under the title "The Bargaining Problem". (Figure 1 of the original paper, appears in the manuscript shown in the movie).

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Goofs

Strictly speaking, John Nash didn't win the Nobel Prize because there isn't a prize for Economics or Mathematics. (Alfred Nobel who willed his estate to the Nobel foundation saw no need for a prize in mathematics.) In 1969 the Swedish Central Bank established the "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel". This prize is presented in the same ceremony and is therefore often mistaken for a proper Nobel Prize. It is even often referred to as the "Nobel Prize in Economics" in daily conversation; the fictional character of President Jed Bartlet on The West Wing was also presented as a Nobel Prize winner (for economics) with the show also not making the real-world distinctions.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Helinger: Mathematicians won the war. Mathematicians broke the Japanese codes... and built the A-bomb. Mathematicians... like you. The stated goal of the Soviets is global Communism. In medicine or economics, in technology or space, battle lines are being drawn. To triumph, we need results. Publishable, applicable results. Now who among you will be the next Morse? The next Einstein? Who among you will be the vanguard of democracy, freedom, and discovery? Today, we bequeath America's future ...

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Connections

Referenced in Julie and Jack (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K. 331"
(uncredited)
(First Movement - Andante grazioso)
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Unknown performer

User Reviews

seeing russell crowe in different view

for some unknown reasons, i almost never liked crowe until i saw this movie. He played the role so beautifully and totally absorbed into being john nash rather that just a typical Hollywood actor. I bet he must have done his homework thousand times before finally bring it to the screen. The way he walks, the way he slide himself between the gate at the abandoned warehouse where he thought was a Russian secret movement operation center, the way he talks, in fact, everything, was portrayed perfectly that it actually concealed that very russell crowe that i never actually liked.

The movie was somehow close to me as my uncle, who was a genius,also suffered from schizophrenia, but passed away years ago. I cried when nash was seen sitting on his house balcony because i remembered that was how my uncle used to sit for hours, solving puzzles. the only difference is that, nash had all the chances and supports from peers and the society but my uncle never did. It was a shame.

Connelly was good as ever, and she had always seen carrying this type of role. Loving yet not so mushy, smart yet vulnerable at time.

Despites all the comments about the movie not being so realistic and not really based on the facts of Nash, i still think it deserves one the of the most beautiful movies i had ever watched.