KylePCLee

John Forbes Nash, the main character, has a mind of a genius and suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. While a graduate in Princeton in the late 40's, he came up with his own "governing dynamic", a game theory - mathematics of competition, and after years of fighting his demons won the Nobel Prize in 1994. And this is a true story! Russell Crowe shows why he's a versatile actor by portraying Nash with sensitivity and passion. Jennifer Connelly did an excellent job as the woman who thought she was married to an eccentric man and did not leave his side after finding out about his illness. Ed Harris, Paul Bettany and Christopher Plummer did a fine job in their supporting role of "explaining and showing" the mindset of a schizophrenic. Trying to tell this story is not an easy task yet director Ron Howard did it without resorting to sensationalism. This movie gave me an insight of what a schizophrenic goes through on a daily life; not being able to distinguish between what's real and what's reality is frightening or using one's energy to push away the illusion is exhausting. WELL DONE TO ALL, ESPECIALLY TO RON HOWARD AND RUSSELL CROWE!

I came away from the movie feeling that it wasn't as good as I thought it would be yet it was worth watching. Although it drags on in certain areas, the story was told with passion and the cinematography was splendid to see. The fight and action scenes were thrilling and some of the dialogue exchange was done with sincere emotion. Good performances all around especially by Ian McKellen who deserve to win the Oscar. A couple of the problems I have are the movie wasn't on even keel like one minute riding a turtle than the next riding the bullet train (not that I'm saying the pacing can't be varied, otherwise it would just be bland and boring) and some of the scenery scenes were done a little too long and could been cut shorter without compromising the integrity of the story. This movie does deserve to win some of the categories at the Academy Award like cinematograpy and actor in a supporting role, but not Best Picture.

One of the better version of Hamlet I ever seen despite some weak performances. Scott Campbell did a moving job as the doom Danish prince. His portrayal convey the question whether or not Hamlet was really mad or just putting on an "antic disposition". Lisa Gay Hamilton did a passing job as Ophelia. Her madness scene was done with quiet sensitivity yet anger lies beneath the surface, but what came before was pure blandness. Roscoe Lee Browne played Polonius, not as a rambling baffoon, but as a pompous arrogant, and it worked well. Jamey Sheridan played Claudia with cool calculation, and a few times let his emotion comes through, but the praying scene left me cold. Blair Brown as Gertrude did a fine job, but she seem to held back. The confrontation scene between Hamlet and his mother could of been done with more emotion from Blair Brown herself. Other good performances came from John Benjamin Hinkley as the loyal and dependable Horatio, and Michael Imperioli and Marcus Giamatti as uptight snobbish Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The only real weakness came from Roger Guenveur Smith as Laertes. He emotion, his tone of voice just didn't change from beginning to the end, despite a few not so convincing outburst.

I like how this movie rearrange the scene like having the "fish monger" comes after the famous "To Be or Not To Be". I like how the Ghost had Hamlet feel the effect of the poison, how the ghost reach out from the sandy ground and grab the sword when Hamlet had Horatio and Marcellus swore to secrecy, and how the Ghost held Polonius' body up causing Gertrude to scream before reminding Hamlet of his promise.

Campbell is the best Hamlet I've seen, just above Branagh. But Branagh's version was better.