A Beautiful Mind
DVD 
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Director:
Ron Howard Actors: Russell Crowe Jennifer Connelly Ed Harris Rating:
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WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
In the early 1940’s, John Forbes Nash was one of the world’s most amazing intellectuals – who was also an extreme schizophrenic. His college education and beautiful sweetheart suffer from Nash’s maladies, while the U.S. government aims to utilize Nash’s astronomical cognitive skills for the war effort.
IS IT A GOOD MOVIE?
Don’t let the fact that this won Best Picture turn you off (it’s not boring!), and try not to put too much stock in those who tear movies down for not eschewing ‘total historical accuracy’. Yes, there are things that took place in Nash’s life that are not touched upon in the movie, but I’m more concerned with what IS on the screen and not what should have been. One of this movie’s biggest “danger signs” among movie fans is the name credited with the screenplay. Akiva Goldsman is one of movie fandom’s most vilified screenwriters, and with a resume that includes titles like Batman Forever, Lost in Space, Deep Blue Sea and Batman & Robin, it’s perhaps easy to see why. I suspect that we movie freaks may owe Mr. Goldsman an apology and be forced to find ourselves a new whipping boy, because the screenplay for A Beautiful Mind is easily his best work yet.
Adapted from the biography by Sylvia Nasar, Goldsman’s screenplay takes its time and sets the payoffs up wonderfully. The dialogue is bereft of the mindless babble so prevalent in movies that deal with such high-minded concepts as appearance vs. reality, severe emotional maladies and arcane cryptography. Although A Beautiful Mind, on the surface, may sound like nothing more than a puffed-up TV flick, it’s most assuredly more than that. With a flawless performance by Russell Crowe, and delightfully strong presence from Jennifer Connelly, a handful of very enjoyable supporting performances, a deft, smart directorial touch from Ron Howard and a shockingly meaty screenplay from Goldsman, A Beautiful Mind is so much more than an “illness-of-the-week” tale. Fascinating, clever and surprisingly heartfelt, it's easily one of 2001’s best films.
Adapted from the biography by Sylvia Nasar, Goldsman’s screenplay takes its time and sets the payoffs up wonderfully. The dialogue is bereft of the mindless babble so prevalent in movies that deal with such high-minded concepts as appearance vs. reality, severe emotional maladies and arcane cryptography. Although A Beautiful Mind, on the surface, may sound like nothing more than a puffed-up TV flick, it’s most assuredly more than that. With a flawless performance by Russell Crowe, and delightfully strong presence from Jennifer Connelly, a handful of very enjoyable supporting performances, a deft, smart directorial touch from Ron Howard and a shockingly meaty screenplay from Goldsman, A Beautiful Mind is so much more than an “illness-of-the-week” tale. Fascinating, clever and surprisingly heartfelt, it's easily one of 2001’s best films.
THE EXTRAS
Holy schizophrenic prodigies! What a massive and overloaded DVD Universal has put together for this fantastic film! It’s no surprise to see such a popular film receive a “special edition” treatment, but what this DVD has to offer is nearly staggering.
Disc 1 houses the main feature, as well as two separate full-length audio commentaries, one with director Ron Howard and the other with screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. Howard’s is easily the more colorful and compelling of the two, but fans of the film should highly enjoy both tracks. On the first disc you’ll also find a series of 18 deleted scenes (running about 26 minutes total) with optional commentary by the director, as well as some extensive production notes and some cast/crew bios.
Sounds good enough already, right? Strap yourself down for Disc 2!
There are about a dozen brief featurettes littered about Disc 2, each one covering an aspect of different aspect of the film, as well as its inspiration:
A Beautiful Partnership: Ron Howard and Brian Grazer sit and talk about how well they work together. Given the success that Imagine Entertainment has had, it’s tough to argue. (5 min.)
Development of the Screenplay: If all you know about Akiva Goldsman is that he wrote Batman & Robin, here’s an 8-minute featurette that should enlighten you a bit.
Meeting John Nash: Ron Howard (along with a camera operator) gets an exclusive lecture from John Nash himself. After watching the film, it’s fascinating to see the real Nash in the flesh – which makes this 8-minute piece a fantastic inclusion to the DVD.
John Nash Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize: Presented mostly in Swedish and clocking in under two minutes, this brief clip shows Nash being awarded his prize at Stockholm in 1994.
Casting Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly: This one’s essentially a five and a half-minute piece on how Howard and Grazer decided on their two leads. Fans of the two stars will most enjoy this featurette; nothing revolutionary here.
The Process of Age Progression: Makeup artist Greg Cannom is highlighted in this surprisingly informative 7-minute piece on the art of cinematic age progression.
Storyboard Comparisons: Now this is how storyboards should be presented! This feature highlights the storyboards, while the final cut of a few specific scenes run alongside the artwork. You can choose to zoom in and watch the sequence with dialogue and storyboards only, or just enjoy the side-by-side comparison.
Creation of the Special Effects: FX wizard Kevin Mack lets us in on the secrets to some of the most subtle special effects ever created. Rare is the film that has so many “hidden” effects, but Mack explains the process behind creating a flock of well-trained pigeons, and the difficulty in creating a realistic-looking ‘baby in the bathtub’. This 10-minute piece is one of the most fascinating featurettes on the entire DVD, and that’s saying a lot.
Scoring the Film: Composer James Horner and singer Charlotte Church discuss the musical decisions made on A Beautiful Mind, and it’s an entertaining 5-and-a-half minutes.
Inside A Beautiful Mind: This 22-minute feature is one of the more ‘traditional’ DVD extras. Not as shallow as your typical EPK, it focuses briefly on various aspects of production, but there’s not a whole lot of meat here.
Academy Awards: Aside from Brian Grazer accepting the award for Best Picture (which is actual Oscar Night footage), these are clips from the Post-Oscar press interviews. Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard, and Jennifer Connelly briefly smile for the cameras and say ‘thanks’. Hardly the most compelling material, but it’s always nice to see such comprehensive extras included.
Theatrical Trailer: This is a deleted scene that features Jennifer Connelly entirely nude…nah, just kidding. It’s the theatrical trailer.
A Beautiful Mind Soundtrack: A short commercial for Horner’s soundtrack.
Now Showing: A series of “If you enjoyed…” trailers for movies such as K-PAX, The Family Man, Apollo 13, and (shudder) Patch Adams.
Organizations: A few web links for those looking to get more information on schizophrenia
Disc 1 houses the main feature, as well as two separate full-length audio commentaries, one with director Ron Howard and the other with screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. Howard’s is easily the more colorful and compelling of the two, but fans of the film should highly enjoy both tracks. On the first disc you’ll also find a series of 18 deleted scenes (running about 26 minutes total) with optional commentary by the director, as well as some extensive production notes and some cast/crew bios.
Sounds good enough already, right? Strap yourself down for Disc 2!
There are about a dozen brief featurettes littered about Disc 2, each one covering an aspect of different aspect of the film, as well as its inspiration:
A Beautiful Partnership: Ron Howard and Brian Grazer sit and talk about how well they work together. Given the success that Imagine Entertainment has had, it’s tough to argue. (5 min.)
Development of the Screenplay: If all you know about Akiva Goldsman is that he wrote Batman & Robin, here’s an 8-minute featurette that should enlighten you a bit.
Meeting John Nash: Ron Howard (along with a camera operator) gets an exclusive lecture from John Nash himself. After watching the film, it’s fascinating to see the real Nash in the flesh – which makes this 8-minute piece a fantastic inclusion to the DVD.
John Nash Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize: Presented mostly in Swedish and clocking in under two minutes, this brief clip shows Nash being awarded his prize at Stockholm in 1994.
Casting Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly: This one’s essentially a five and a half-minute piece on how Howard and Grazer decided on their two leads. Fans of the two stars will most enjoy this featurette; nothing revolutionary here.
The Process of Age Progression: Makeup artist Greg Cannom is highlighted in this surprisingly informative 7-minute piece on the art of cinematic age progression.
Storyboard Comparisons: Now this is how storyboards should be presented! This feature highlights the storyboards, while the final cut of a few specific scenes run alongside the artwork. You can choose to zoom in and watch the sequence with dialogue and storyboards only, or just enjoy the side-by-side comparison.
Creation of the Special Effects: FX wizard Kevin Mack lets us in on the secrets to some of the most subtle special effects ever created. Rare is the film that has so many “hidden” effects, but Mack explains the process behind creating a flock of well-trained pigeons, and the difficulty in creating a realistic-looking ‘baby in the bathtub’. This 10-minute piece is one of the most fascinating featurettes on the entire DVD, and that’s saying a lot.
Scoring the Film: Composer James Horner and singer Charlotte Church discuss the musical decisions made on A Beautiful Mind, and it’s an entertaining 5-and-a-half minutes.
Inside A Beautiful Mind: This 22-minute feature is one of the more ‘traditional’ DVD extras. Not as shallow as your typical EPK, it focuses briefly on various aspects of production, but there’s not a whole lot of meat here.
Academy Awards: Aside from Brian Grazer accepting the award for Best Picture (which is actual Oscar Night footage), these are clips from the Post-Oscar press interviews. Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard, and Jennifer Connelly briefly smile for the cameras and say ‘thanks’. Hardly the most compelling material, but it’s always nice to see such comprehensive extras included.
Theatrical Trailer: This is a deleted scene that features Jennifer Connelly entirely nude…nah, just kidding. It’s the theatrical trailer.
A Beautiful Mind Soundtrack: A short commercial for Horner’s soundtrack.
Now Showing: A series of “If you enjoyed…” trailers for movies such as K-PAX, The Family Man, Apollo 13, and (shudder) Patch Adams.
Organizations: A few web links for those looking to get more information on schizophrenia
FINAL DIAGNOSIS
Oscar’s favorite flick surrounded by 5 pounds of superlative extras. Universal Home Video has been having an amazing year so far, and this one may stand as their crown jewel of 2002. Quite simply, this is one of the most impressive 2-disc sets I’ve ever seen.
