Russell Crowe is amazing. Ever since I first watched him in the Academy Award Winning film, “Gladiator,” I instantly fell in love with not only the various movies he starred in, but his phenomenal acting skills. At one instance, he can play the lighthearted character that we can all connect and feel empathy for, while on the contrary, he can be the villain in the movie that everyone is rooting against. However, through his successful career as an actor, the movie of his which I admire and enjoy the most is the 2001 Academy Award Winning film, “Beautiful Mind.”

Based on a true story, John Nash, a brilliant yet socially awkward student at Princeton University, is gifted with the ability to see numerals, equations, and algorithms like no other. He is a genius, but at the cost that he rarely talks to anyone, and when he does, he is extremely uncomfortable and awkward. While arriving at Princeton in the mid 1940’s, his main objective is to come up with an original idea and thesis through mathematics which will not only get his name on the map of esteemed mathematicians at the time, but will revolutionize mathematics, economics, and even the world as well.

During his tenure at Princeton, he fails time and time again, but is determined to eventually reach his break through moment. He eventually falls in love with a student of his, and that changes his life forever. Additionally, he even takes on an undercover job working as a cryptographer for the government. However, all of these occurrences later send his life down a spiraling path toward disaster.

Possibly the most interesting part about this movie is that it is based on a true story. If you take higher level economic classes here at Penn State, I would almost guarantee that the name John Nash would eventually come up. As the movie progresses, Nash does eventually get his break through and discovers his original idea. Many know it as the Game Theory or even the Nash Equilibrium, but this real life economic theory was created by Nash as he observed behavior while at a bar one night with his colleagues.

This movie is simply amazing, just for the major plot twist that occurs toward the middle of the movie. My plot analysis during this blog was rather vague, just because I did not want to spoil what truly is wrong with John Nash. Therefore, I advise you to avoid googling John Nash’s problem or how the movie plays out, but instead, I would take a couple hours out of your time to watch this movie.

This is a movie that not only makes you think, but makes you appreciate certain aspects of your own life, learning to not take life for granted. It teaches us valuable life lessons, it tells a remarkable story, it keeps the viewers on the edge of their seat, and more importantly this movie makes us realize, that John Nash, the esteemed mathematician and economist, truly has a Beautiful Mind.