It's hard to go wrong with Russell Crowe - but it's possible. It's harder to go wrong with Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott - but again, it happens. Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott and Denzel Washington, though - no, I don't think you can go wrong.
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I found "A Beautiful Mind" absorbing on first viewing, at least until Nash's schmaltzy Nobel acceptance address at the end; the revelation that his best friend was a delusion was nearly as jaw-dropping as the climax of "The Sixth Sense." It was only on repeat viewing that it became clear that that cinematic depiction of the gap between madness and sanity is all the film had to offer. Nor did it help to read Sylvia Nasar's book about Nash and realize how much the film sanitized him. None of that Crowe's fault, though, and while his performance wasn't up to the level of "Proof of Life" (I want to be that guy when I grow up!), I still thought it was fine.
Posted by Jeff Peterson | June 7, 2007 6:46 PM