A Beautiful Mind (Widescreen Awards Edition) | Paul Bettany, Patrick Blindauer

A Beautiful Mind (Widescreen Awards Edition) | Paul Bettany, Patrick Blindauer | A beautiful way to tell a tragically uplifting story...

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A Beautiful Mind (...

	A Beautiful Mind (Widescreen Awards Edition) Paul Bettany, Patrick Blindauer Universal Home Video average customer review:based on 665 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Thank You for Saving My Life...Literally

I first saw this movie about five years ago. My wife had asked me to go see it with her. After we watched, I said to her, "I don't know how to tell you this, but I got to tell you something, and it is kinda hard to say." She said, "Go ahead, honey." So I said to her, "I don't know what that stuff is that Crowe has in that movie......" She says, "go on." "But I have it, too." She then says, "Well, we got to get you some help." The next day she tells me the soonest a psychiatrist can see me is in a month and a half. I tell her that I can't last that long. I need to see someone right away. A psychiatrist tells her to take me to the nearest ER room at a hospital.

Sitting in front of the ER doctor at a large hospital in the Denver suburbs, the doctor asks me, "So what's bothering you?" I tell him, "Oh, nothing really." (I'm afraid they are going to lock me up forever.) My wife across the little room says, "You have to tell him everything, to get help." So I proceed to tell him, "I'm hearing voices which are telling me to do terrible things. They are loud command voices, they don't stop, and I can't deal with it anymore. They say people in the neighborhood are plotting to kill me and my family."

He says, "Oh, you must have a microchip implanted in the back of your head."

I exclaim back, "No, no, that's not possible! I never had a microchip operation... I have a tooth. It's in the back of my mouth. It has a large filling in it. I got it when I was 15. The dentist put two pins in it, and the pins act like a harmonic receiver for a satellite in the sky." Then I paused again and looked over at my wife, and she said, "You got to keep going." I continued, "They are sending the voices to me through this tooth, and they can hear what I am saying when I speak. I am part of a super-secret military project, and they're communicating with me. For future one-man missions."

The doctor then left, and came back a few minutes later with two armed hospital guards. He read me 'my rights', and informed me that the state of Colorado allows him to put me on a '3-day involuntary commitment' to get me medication and counseling. I was ready to jump right out of there, but my wife said, "They are going to help you, but you have to let them." So I went along with them to the psych ward of that general hospital, and they helped me by giving me a 10mg dose of tongue dissolvable Zyprexa, and I slept for about 19 hours. When I woke up, they let me talk to the doctor and some counselors. The medication gave me a clear brain, and stopped the voices and delusions. They released me to my wife that day (the day after admitting me). My wife was an angel.

This movie, that "3-day commitment", and the doctors & nurses with the meds are some of the best things that have ever happened in my life. This movie gave me the courage to seek help. It was very hard to take the news that I was not part of a special super-secret military project for 19 years. But instead I have a serious, chronic, incurable, brain disease. But that's life, that's my life. I now accept the fact that I have the brain disorder known as schizoaffective. It reminds me of the movie, "Predator". And it terrifies me.

Other people here have commented that this film does not portray the actual life of John Nash. Well, maybe it's because the real story of schizophrenia is too depressing for people to want to pay money to see. There simply is no pretty Hollywood ending to our story. And besides, Hollywood has skewed other films in the past that were supposedly about the life of a real person.

One that comes to mind so unnervingly is the movie, "Emily Rose." Talk about a farce! Oh, this movie was "INSPIRED BY" the life of Emily Rose. And then two consultants to the film with the title of Msr. in front of their names (this stands for Catholic monsignor priest) proceeded to make a girl's paranoid manic psychotic episode look like demon possession. That was cute. And what a cruel joke it is to all of us who suffer from psychotic brain disease (about 8 million US people - paranoid schizophrenia, psychotic bipolar I, psychotic depression & post-partum psychosis).

I can hardly wait until the researchers find a cure for this illness. Hopefully within the next 20 to 30 years. I hope and pray for this everyday. I'm sure John does, too. For the sake of our children.

You won't hear from many people with psychotic based-illness. It is simply too horrific to talk about. You can take my word for it. I say this because you all have paid a lot of money to send me to some of the world's best schools. Schools which uniquely teach soldiers how to look fear in its face, to confront it, and then to walk right through it. As I have posted before, and in spite of this myriad of specialized training, it still terrifies me to talk about this disease like I am doing now, and it takes a terrible toll.

To everyone who had a part in making this film, thank you. Thank you for saving my life, literally. I really appreciate that. So do my wife and two children. And thank you, John, for telling your story. You have helped us all. You will never know how much, because we simply cannot talk about it. As you already know.

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A beautiful way to tell a tragically uplifting story...

The real life story of John Nash plays out as engaging and interesting as some of our more well thought out fiction. Now, as some have already noted whether here or in media scrutiny, not all of this film follows Nash's life accurately. Some of this film is fictionalized, but isn't that for the most part what always happens. Just because it's a true story doesn't mean Hollywood doesn't feel the need to tamper. At least here the tampering does not by any means take away from the power within the film and the performances that dominate. Nash's life story is still portrayed effortlessly and beautifully, compelling and entertaining and full of just about every aspect of a priceless and award worthy film. `A Beautiful Mind' truly has it all.

Russell Crowe here delivers a breathtaking performance as John Nash, a brilliant math student who gets to the top only to tumble back down to the bottom at breakneck speed. Living a life that in the end appears mostly a lie, Nash eventually is diagnosed with schizophrenia. At this point in his life, married with a child and working a steady job, Nash and those around him are finding it difficult to differentiate reality from the creations of his mind. The movie then turns its focus on Nash's recovery and the effect his sickness has on those closest to him.

Crowe is truly the star here, swallowing whole this character driven study on the human spirit and determination to survive. He engulfs the screen and makes this mans plight come alive for the audience. What's commendable here is that Howard's directing and of course the script, adapted from Sylvia Nasar's biography, allow for the viewer to really connect with the entire cast, most importantly Nash himself. This proves effective because once Nash's life is shattered before our very eyes and he begins to crumble we are brought to a place deep within our emotions that would have been impossible to touch had we not come to know Nash before his world came tumbling down. We fall in love with this man and so we feel his pain, his wife's pain and are emotionally distressed alongside them both.

Alongside Crowe both Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany deliver astounding performances as Nash's longsuffering wife and imaginary best friend. Jennifer's Oscar winning performance is full of so much life, so much pain and emotional attachment that we can relate to and understand her feelings every step of the way. We watch her transform from this woman who knew how to control the things around her, including Nash, to a woman scared of what was going to happen next, a woman who felt detached from all she thought was real. Bettany's portrayal of Nash's college roommate is high spirited and refreshing. He serves as our brightest comic relief but also our biggest heartbreak as we watch Nash realize he never truly had his friendship at all.

Crowe, one of our finest actors, is a true chameleon and he engages himself so far into this role that he becomes John Nash, and watching that transformation is utterly rewarding. His determination and fervor are so invested in this performance from the moment he appears on screen that one is automatically drawn to him and connected to him entirely. From start to finish `A Beautiful Mind' proves itself worthy of our attention and consideration and is sure to astonish and amaze you. From its heartbreaking story to its brilliantly crafted direction to its powerhouse performances, `A Beautiful Mind' is a winner from the top of its head to the tip of its toes. The well rounded supporting cast including the likes of Ed Harris and Josh Lucas continue to astonish in their respective roles and aid in delivering one of the warmest and beautifully articulated Hollywood experiences. This, my friends, is what going to the movies is all about.

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Russell was robbed!

Russell should have received the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Nash... talk about being robbed... LOL!

Be careful of DVD format you buy

This is a truly beautiful movie and probably Ron Howard's best work IMHO. It's a lesson of how one man fought off his demons, real and imagined, with the loving help of his wife and a commitment to discipline his own mind.

Direction, acting, writing, cinematigraphy, music... it's a perfect storm of great cinema.

Regarding the DVD there is one thing to keep in mind... be careful to check the aspect ratio of the DVD you buy. There are many different versions of this title, apparently I got stuck with a lemon as I wanted the "widescreen" version but got, instead the "fullscreen" version.

They trick you here... "FULL Screen"?? Is this as opposed to "Half-Screen"? It's a misleading term that makes you think it's "widescreen" but it's not -as the aspect ratio is only 1:33-1. If you want the real FULL screen -as it was in the theater, make sure the copy you buy is 1:85-1.

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Issues Hallucinations Raise

I've always been fascinated by hallucinations. So this movie naturally appealed to me. It made me think, "My gosh, what if I'm like this guy and I've had a friend who isn't real all along?" Holy cow. Spooky.

And the worst thing about it is the guy's hallucinations never go away. He just has to pretend they aren't there. What a bummer. And some of those hallucinations were his best friends at one point too. Geez. Star Trek The Next Generation could do six full-length episodes based on the content of this film alone.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in psychology, philosophical logic, insanity, or any combination of the three. It can present you some mysteries, that's for sure.

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