The Academy has a great history of awarding the Best
Picture Oscar to a generally lifeless, inoffensive work of
mediocrity. I can hardly say that A
Beautiful Mind is not a good movie (I regrettably put it on my top ten list
for 2001), but it certainly isn’t great. It’s not even particularly memorable
except in its simplistic depiction of mental illness.
I can’t say with any certainty to what degree John Nash
suffered with schizophrenia or how it manifested itself, but I do know that the
way Akiva Goldsman incorporates it into his screenplay, based on the biography
by Sylvia Nasar, seems almost preposterous, designed specifically to aid the
unsubtle viewer in understanding what Nash was going through. I guess I
shouldn’t fault the movie for trying to reach a broader audience, but nor
should we assume that it has anything new or interesting to say on the subject.
