Thursday 27 January 2011

A-Z #20: A Beautiful Mind

You can pick up hundreds of DVD's for a round-pound each - it doesn't matter. Its never about quantity, its about quality. A-Z is my way of going through my collection, from A-Z, and justifying why I own the films... or you can tell me whether I should sell 'em...






#20 - A Beautiful Mind 

Why did I buy it?

I was - and ultimately still am - attempting to watch all the Best Picture winners and I found this cheap enough to purchase it. I vividly remember buying it at the Aberystwyth Woolworths and, as I walked home, I was dubious about whether it would be any good... would I find it long and boring ...

Why do I still own it?

In the first instance I do like it and, back when I first bought it, I watched it many times because I enjoyed it so much. I even watched it with young Jo and this brought about an epic debate: the focus of the film felt a little unclear - the romance between Nash and his wife should have been the centre-point of the film ... but it actually didn't feel important in A Beautiful Mind, hence the almost-unneccessary feel of the romance story - we were all rooting for Nash (Crowe) to simply get over his (without giving anything away) problems.

The epic debate was how I used Titanic as an example of a film that, although about the disaster and showing great sub-stories about class in 1912, the film was rooted in the romance between Jack and Rose, hence why it was so good - Titanic is, before anything else, a Romance. Jo disagreed - Titanic is a disaster movie according to him.

This incredible argument raged on all night and A Beautiful Mind is what started it all. This may be part of the reason I still own it because, capturing the frame from the film above made me give it a slight re-analysis and, having watched many Oscar contenders and Best Picture winners since this film, it does seem quite by-the-numbers so...

Should I sell it?

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8 comments:

  1. I really like this movie, but I was a senior when they filmed it on campus, so personal ties to seeing my dorm (during the tea near the beginning) outweighs the negatives from the film. I say keep it, it's terrific acting all around.

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  2. A great performance from Crowe but I don't think it really quite deserved the Best Picture win it got so long ago. Good review!

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  3. I think you're right - but the question is, what did it squeeze ahead of? what Best Picture nominees was it up against? Because if i recall, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE robbed some other films.

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  4. nice connection there! i think its funny how those little connections really do affect your judgement - like ANGELAS ASHES - i have a funny feeling its not really good enough to own but those family connections in ireland force me to keep a copy.

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  5. Oh my gosh, the film that sparked the Greatest Simon & Jo Argument of All Time.

    I say Keep It, brings back memories of the most tense tooth brushing scene in history.

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  6. For Sure. An Epic Evening.

    Shit got real when religion was brought up...

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  7. Saw it once. It was good and all, but I don't think I ever need to see it again. If it were me, I'd sell it, but seeing as you have fond memories and whatnot, KEEP it!

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  8. Yeah, the memories are intense... but I don't think it really stands the test of time. I thought it was great on first viewing and now I think its Oscar-by-the-numbers: True Story, Lead-Role-with-Mental-Problem, set in Uni... oh my... THE SOCIAL NETWORK seems like it might win Oscars with this talk!

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