I’ve never rated Russel Crowe. I thought Gladiator was over the top, and that put me off him. However, when visiting an art exhibition of a friend’s work inspired by terrorism, I was struck by a quotation that was on one of the pieces of work:
“Man is capable of as much atrocity as he has imagination”
I asked where the quote had come from, and I was told it was from “A Beautiful Mind”, and was recommended to watch it.
The film is not what I expected. Even after reading the back of the DVD case, and reading the WikiPedia entry for John Forbes Nash, of which this film is a biopic, I still was not prepared for the film.
I knew the film was about schizophrenia, and about Nash’s decline and subsequent recovery to win the Nobel prize, but it is the way director Ron Howard tells his journey that makes the film, and deservedly wins his Oscar for best director.
Wheras most films with a twist in them save the big twist for the end, this one reveals the twist in the middle, and does it in such a dramatic and powerful way that it leaves the audience as confused as Nash possibly was. It is easy to patronise people in films, particularly those with disabilities or illnesses, but Howard manages to draw the audience in to Nash’s plight, as opposed to siding with the other characters in the film that think Nash is mad. You don’t see Nash shouting at people who aren’t there, but you experience his delusions with him, and the way the twist is revealed, the audience, like Nash wonder what is real and what is imagined.
As I said at the start of my review, I’ve never liked Russel Crowe, his reputation somewhat preceeds him. However, in this he portrays a man struggling with his illness incredibly well. You are drawn into his suffering, and he is able to show behind the eyes lies a very intelligent person. While Crowe may look more like a quarterback than a mathematician (particularly in Nash’s early life), he injects a subtlety into the performance that makes it seem as if he is almost underplaying the role. Unlike the machismo of Gladiator, Crowe does not stand out from the crowd, and you actually see the character rather than Russel Crowe.
This has heightened my interest in seeing Crowe’s newest biopic, Cinderella Man, but I think it will be hard to top this.
Now, all I have to do is to stop thinking of Richie Cunningham whenever I see a Ron Howard movie.