Movie Philadelphia

Ron Howard has given us a film that's so different from the formula-oriented fare we receive from Hollywood, that this film, although studio born and bred, plays very much as an independent film.

The madness of John Nash is approached by the director, and the writer, Akiva Goldsman, with great honesty and restraint. The production has a look that tells us we are seeing the events in the life of this crazy mathematician as it really happened. Nothing seems to be out of place here with the right touch of atmospheric detail in showing the past, when Mr. Nash went from being an up and coming star in Princeton to his being selected for the Nobel prize in 1994, with enough time going into the schizophrenia that almost ruined his academic life, as well as his own marriage.

Russell Crowe plays this tormented soul with utter understanding of the man he is portraying. At no time does he strike a false note or gets too carried away with his own acting. That shows a firm hand by Mr. Howard, whose command seems to be behind every shot of this film.

Ed Harris is one of the best actors around and let no one tell you otherwise. He expresses so much with the simplest gestures any actor can make. His kind of acting is seamless from film to film. Here he gives a great and understated performance as the man in John Nash's nightmares and make-believe world.

The biggest surprise though, is Jennifer Connelly. She demonstrates here as well as in previous work, mainly her previous work in Requiem of a Dream, that she is in a league of her own. She's that rare breed of actresses that go from film to film acting in roles that she disappears into without any fanfare or hype