A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 American biographical drama film based on the life of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. The film was directed by Ron Howard, from a screenplay written by Akiva Goldsman. It was inspired by a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar. The film stars Russell Crowe, along with Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany and Christopher Plummer in supporting roles.

 

The true story of prominent mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. is the subject of this biographical drama from director Ron Howard. Russell Crowe stars as the brilliant but arrogant and conceited professor Nash. The prof seems guaranteed a rosy future in the early'50s after he marries beautiful student Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) and makes a remarkable advancement in the foundations of "game theory," which carries him to the brink of international acclaim. Soon after, John is visited by Agent William Parcher (Ed Harris), from the CIA, who wants to recruit him for code-breaking activities. But evidence suggests that Nash's perceptions of reality are cloudy at best; he is struggling to maintain his tenuous hold on sanity, and Alicia suspects a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. Battling decades of illness with the loyal Alicia by his side, Nash is ultimately able to gain some control over his mental state, and eventually goes on to triumphantly win the Nobel Prize.

 

A Beautiful Mind received a limited release on December 21, 2001, receiving positive reviews. It was later released in the United States on January 4, 2002. Rotten Tomatoes showed a 78% approval rating among critics with a movie consensus stating: "The well-acted A Beautiful Mind is both a moving love story and a revealing look at mental illness." Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four-out-of-four stars. Mike Clark of USA Today gave three-and-a-half-out-offour stars and also praised Crowe's performance and referred to as a welcomed follow up to Howard's previous film The Grinch.

 

The film opened in the United States cinemas on December 21, 2001. It went to gross over $313 million worldwide.

 

In 2002, the film was awarded four Academy Awards, for Best Adapted Screenplay (Akiva Goldsman), Best Picture (Brian Grazer and Ron Howard), Best Director (Ron Howard) and Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly). It also received four other nominations for Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Film Editing (Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley), Best Makeup (Greg Cannom and Colleen Callaghan), and Best Original Score (James Horner). At the 55th British Academy Film Awards the film won Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role to Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly, respectively. It also nominated the film for Best Film, Best Screenplay and the David Lean Award for Direction.