2001, PG-13, 136 minutes

This film could have been really boring. I mean, really, really boring. However, due to an extremely clever screenplay by Akiva Goldsmith, the true-life story of Nobel Prize winner John Nash Jr. turns out to be a highly compelling and relatively fast-paced movie, and it includes a huge twist that you wouldn't expect in this type of picture.

Russell Crowe turns in another superb performance, demonstrating what is perhaps the widest range of any actor in modern history (think about it: he goes from fierce gladiator to anti-social, schizophrenic math-wiz). And as good as Crowe is, Jennifer Connelly breaks through with a compelling performance of her own, which really serves as the emotional core of the entire film. After a few disappointments, Ron Howard seems to have recovered as a director, shooting his best-looking and most consistently-toned film since Apollo 13. A Beautiful Mind is surprisingly good for a bio-pic and is worthy of the praise it has received.