Universal Pictures Russell Crowe plays John
Forbes Nash in "A Beautiful Mind" with Jennifer
Connelly.
A Beautiful Mind
Starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly
Directed by Ron Howard
Russell Crowe is delusional and insane.
But never mind his personal life. This describes him in "A
Beautiful Mind," the latest offering from director Ron Howard,
based on a true story.
Crowe plays John Nash, a mathematical genius who looks at the
world from a purely logical standpoint, which results in a visible
lack of sociability with both his Princeton colleagues and
unsuspecting coeds.
Accompanying Nash is his roommate Charles, charmingly played by
British actor Paul Bettany, who tries to break him out of his
shell.
Nash spends most of his time ditching class and pursuing an
original idea that would change the course of mathematics forever
and later earn him the Nobel Prize. His relentless pursuit leads
him to a position as a code cracker for the Pentagon while he
teaches college math.
Interrupting his class is the heart-stopping Jennifer Connelly,
coming off a performance in the critically acclaimed "Requiem for a
Dream." As Nash’s love interest, her Alicia brings a refreshing
change of pace for a film dominated by male characters for most of
its beginning.
Crowe is fairly convincing as the introverted Nash, occasionally
injecting the character with flashes of humor and humanity.
Ed Harris shows up in the film as William Parcher, a hard-nosed
U.S. secret agent charged with the task of protecting Nash when his
code cracking attracts the attention of Russian intelligence during
Cold War America. At this point, the film gives the audience a hint
of Nash’s paranoia.
Howard does a good job of chronicling Nash’s mental progress,
which steadily declines as he becomes more and more immersed in his
work with Parcher.
The other progressively worsening situation is Nash’s
relationship with his wife Alicia. Connelly steals the movie in its
second half when her character must cope with Nash’s paranoia and
inability to function.
Connelly is the stabilizing force in a film whose pace is
somewhat disjointed and slow at points, but to Crowe’s credit the
character of Nash is eccentric enough to keep your attention, even
as the less attractive 65 year old who continues to battle
insanity.
Robert Salonga
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Revolution Pictures Ty Burrell and
Jeremy Piven star in "Black Hawk Down."
"Black Hawk Down" Starring Josh Hartnett and Ewan
McGregor Directed by Ridley Scott
War is brutal, dirty, ugly and painful, and "Black Hawk Down"
doesn’t let you forget it, even for a minute.
The two hour barrage of battle sequences hardly gives the viewer
time to breathe, as 100 American soldiers battle thousands of
Somalian militia in the dusty, war-ravaged city of Mogadishu.
The movie, based on a real military action in 1993, is a
disturbingly realistic look at a mission gone wrong that doesn’t
hold anything back.
Of course, war realism in itself isn’t enough reason to see a
movie, especially after the success in this field of "Saving
Private Ryan." Fortunately "Black Hawk Down" has a solid story of
real-life bravery behind it, which helps it hold its own against
predecessors.
Even the participation of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the king
of big, dumb explosion movies, couldn’t do to "Black Hawk Down"
what he did to his last would-be war epic, "Pearl Harbor." The
movie doesn’t shy away from the topics of local and world politics,
and whether the presence of U.S. and U.N. forces was
appropriate.
The team of Bruckheimer and director Ridley Scott ("Gladiator")
does ensure, however, that the story was told in as visually big
and expensive a way as possible. In a way the explosions and
deafening, never-ending gunshots and helicopters are distracting
from the real issues at hand, but they serve the purpose of
depicting the harsh reality of modern warfare.
The acting, on the whole, is excellent, although there are so
many characters in so many different parts of the city that they
blur together after a while.
"Black Hawk Down" is worth watching, especially since it will
likely be nominated for some Academy Awards.
Mary Williams
Â
USA Films Ryan Phillippe and Kristin
Scott Thomas star in Robert Altman’s "Gosford Park."
"Gosford Park"
Starring Helen Mirren, Jeremy Northam, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen
Scott Thomas, Emily Watson
Directed by Robert Altman
Anyone thirsty for class, sex, and/or nationality conflict
should be satisfied by the beautifully well-crafted "Gosford
Park."
Set in a post-WWI English country home, Robert Altman’s new
dramedy enlists a fantastic ensemble cast in a fragile murder
mystery more compelled by characters than plot points.
Maggie Smith is hilariously long-suffering.
She plays an elderly gentlewoman living only off an allowance
from an obligated family member and her well-bred notions of what
is proper. Her deadpan delivery and constant snobbery are the most
humorous aspect of the film.
In her role as a frustrated gold-digger in a joyless marriage to
a man mostly interested in guns and house maids, Kristen Scott
Thomas demonstrates the ultimate in British aristocratic
malaise.
Ryan Phillippe is surprisingly good and devastatingly attractive
as a Hollywood up-and-comer researching a role by pretending to be
his producer’s servant.
Clive Owen’s performance smoothly alternates between darkly
alluring and more darkly volatile.
Emily Watson furthers her reputation as an excellent actress as
she plays a too-wise and world-weary housemaid letting the guest’s
servants in on the gossipy underbelly of the household.
The rest of the characters are similarly quirky and well-acted,
making the film as a whole a lush cross section of rich and poor,
good and bad.
As the guests discuss and rediscuss who has what – money,
position, affair – the maids, valets and cooks prove to be more
wise than their employers.
And, in the end, it is the Americans who are endearingly and
singularly impervious to classism.
"Gosford Park" is smart, funny and poignant. The solid and
intriguing characters coupled with the lovely place and myriad
"-isms," culminate in a very good movie.
Kelsey McConnell