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Reviews
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
A beautiful mind hides an ugly soul
There are some spoilers below, though not many, I think.
****
One can chalk up "Beautiful Mind's" award success to the Academy's desperation not to give "Lord of the Rings" the Oscars it so richly deserved. (Especially when one considers that "Hurricane" didn't get Oscars for similar omissions just a few years ago) I feel vaguely queasy when I read either comments on how well-researched this movie was, or how the complete lack of truth is outweighed by the mushy inspirational story. (Well, I don't find it inspirational because it hasn't got a shred of truth)
John Nash's character is carefully whitewashed of his more glaring flaws, the ones that might not have been relevent to his schizophrenia. In this movie, he is not a bisexual (and no amount of denial by him or Alicia will change what people think), he never tried to renounce American citizenship, he never had affairs, he made a Nobel prize speech gushing over his wife, he never made passes at men and got busted for it, he never abandoned a child, he and Alicia didn't have a rotten marriage that eventually broke up for years because of his schizophrenia (can't have a sad ending concerning the devoted little wifie), or any of the truly negative aspects of his persona. According to this movie, Nash was a good guy who was only mean because of his disease.
Russell Crowe gives his usual disjointedly stone-faced performance, with plenty of facial tics to convince us that Nash is schizophrenic; Jennifer Connelly is okay, but she is never given anything really award-worthy, and her character is too icky-sweet to be likeable. The supporting characters are pretty flat, though the actors are clearly doing all that they are capable of doing.
Does the sentimental "inspiring" love story override the blatant lack of facts? Nope. This is portrayed as a biopic, and as such you expect to hear about the life of the person involved. How much of Nash's life is in here? Not much! And how can a story, supposedly at least semi-true, be inspirational if it isn't true? Lurking behind the inspirational love story is the huge, hulking, ugly truth. I couldn't watch a single gooey scene without thinking, "yeah, sure, like THAT happened!"
And frankly it is the sign of an undeserving director that Howard can't give us a view of Nash without erasing his flaws. A truly talented director would give us an unflinching portrait of Nash -- good and bad -- and attempt to get the audience to like and/or respect Nash (even grudgingly). But apparently that is beyond Howard's skill. Instead, he tries to manipulate us into liking Nash without his flaws rather than despite them. And it makes those flaws all the more glaring by doing so.
If this movie had been a fictional story about a fictional mathematician, it would have been a decent flick. But as they try to palm it off as an inspirational biopic, it falls into a beautiful mess. Rent the snubbed "Fellowship of the Ring" for a truly emotional, well-directed, excellently-acted movie that could even be called... dare I say "Beautiful"?
Timepiece (1996)
Touching, romantic movie
*****WARNING. MAJOR SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW*****
The follow-up to the Christmas Box TV-movie does not disappoint--my only disappointment is that this unknown gem is not on video. It should be!
Kevin Kilner stars as the cynical businessman David Parkin who is warmed by the presence of his new English secretary Mary Anne Chandler (who later is the endearing widow of "Christmas Box"). Though he asks her to marry him, there is a problem: She's pregnant. Regardless, the two manage to overcome their obstacles, only to be hit by something terrible.
Mary and David are the perfect couple, loving and tender and totally believable. I've only seen Kilner in one other role--that of the first lead on Earth: Final Conflict--and was not impressed by his acting abilities. This movie, however, lets him shine. Watts is excellent as the woman whose hardships forge her into a much stronger person.
James Earl Jones is a jewel as Lawrence Flynn, an elderly black man who forges fearlessly through the prejudice of some of the town's residents, alongside his friend, Miss Maud Gannon. Richard Thomas doesn't really star--he's in a cameo, at best, artificially aged, but it's a good cameo that sets up the whole movie. The girl playing little Andrea Parkin is pretty good for a child actor, but not stellar.
Like "Box," this movie has some drastic differences from the book, but in a good way--it's more suited for television, while Evans' books are best suited for, well, books.
If this movie airs where you live, be certain to watch it. Touching, romantic, sweet, funny, tragic, it's a movie that opens your heart.
Space Island One (1998)
Will someone hand me a gun?
Now this was just awful! When I stayed in Canada, I watched this show one week. I was intrigued by the storyline, but felt my interest waning with each passing week. Soon, I could barely stand it.
It is probably the most realistic science fiction show I have ever seen--more so than Star Trek, Earth: Final Conflict, Babylon 5, ad nauseam. And that isn't a good thing. The realism means that it plays out like "Daily Life on the Space Shuttle", except it's a space station. The characters were all indistinguishable from each other, and the plots generally centered around corporate problems concerning the owners of the station, or a plot about the corporate problems, or one character attempting to seduce another with the use of pheramones.
It's so realistic that you won't enjoy it.
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
Far better than it's said to be
Voyager started off on shaky ground, but gradually levelled off into a good scifi show. It took TNG forever to find its unique niche and identity, and so it is for Voyager. It can be compared to the original Star Trek, in its go-where-no-one-has-gone-before identity.
Humor and drama, action and sometimes even horror are well-balanced in Voyager, the characters started off slightly odd but eventually became edgy but fast friends with each other. Even Neelix, the Talaxian who often looks as if he's wearing rejects from Quark's wardrobe, has become a far more palatable and even likable character.
If Neelix can make me laugh, then Voyager has its niche. :)