A Beautiful Mind 2001 By Rancosto on Dec 11, 2007 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

Russel Crowe gives an amazing performance as John Nash, a brilliant mathematician enlisted to work as a code-breaker for the government during the Cold War. A part of his work is looking through magazines and newspapers, searching for hidden messages encrypted by the Russians. Stressed by constant danger, fear for his family, and having to keep his work secret from his wife, John breaks down. He is taken to a psychiatric hospital where Dr. Rosen (Christopher Plummer) tells John's wife Alicia (Jennifer Connely) that her husband has schizophrenia. Some of the things he believes he sees and experiences are not real... including all the spy games.

The movie does a fine job exploring the line between genius and insanity, sometimes very thin, As someone who does not know much about schizophrenia, I watched it with fascination, trying to see, together with the main character, what's real and what is not. I am very impressed with this film, with the exception of some crude language that I believe has not improved it in any way.

The movie is based on a true story; the documentary with the real John Forbes Nash, the Nobel prize winner, is an additional treat.