Drama > Crowe, Russell Drama

Advantages: A beautiful film of a true story.
Disadvantages: Some may find the subject distressing.

A BEAUTIFUL MIND Released in 2001 and starring Russell Crowe. This film falls into the genre Biography/Drama, and is loosely based on the biography of mathematician John Forbes Nash, written by Sylvia Nasar. Directed by Ron Howard, and for which he received an Academy award for Best film of 2001. The film chronicles the life of highly regarded mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr, who throughout his life suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. ...
...between sanity and madness, lies a very fine line, and the main protagonist shows us with great clarity just how fine a line this can be. Genius in one form or another can tip the scale between the two. The mind is a mysterious, and delicate object, as I myself found when studying for my degree. You can only push yourself so far before something gives, and intense commitment to one subject can all too easily result in complete mental breakdown, and ... Read review

Advantages: Marion Cotillard is always good value.
Disadvantages: Russell Crowe andRidley Scott can't do comedy.

Max Skinner is a reptilian stockbroker, loved by his boss and lawyer and reviled by everyone else. But his high-pressure life takes a turn for the unexpected as he inherits a house and vineyard in France from his estranged Uncle Henry; the closest thing he had to a father. He crosses the channel, intending to sort out the estate and flog the house. But once he gets there, he finds himself remembering how happy his childhood holidays in Provence were ...
...the City worth more than a chance at happiness? In years to come "A Good Year" will no doubt be known as Ridley Scott's folly. For a director whose output is usually characterised by its dependence on action set-pieces and high drama, this light comedy seemed an odd choice of project. And sadly my misgivings about his suitability have been realised. It's a bit of disposable fluff that has been dressed up by an impressive cast list and critically ... Read review

Advantages: Great Story and Deeply informative
Disadvantages: Minor inaccuracies to John Nash's life and work

...thought provoking and also gives a great deal of insight into the mental disorder of schizophrenia and how powerful the mind really is. Plot This story is based on the true story of John Nash, a mathematician who begins hallucinating and imagining people including a friend and roommate from university, called Charles, Charles' niece Marcee, and a Department of Defence agent called William Parcher. After some time, his wife Alicia informs ...
...real. He is then offered a nobel prize for economics for his extraordinary work into game theory. Cast The acting in this film is outstading with Russel Crowe (who plays John Nash) putting a lot of effort into the part of this mathematical genius and the viewer really begins to get attached to this character and starts to feel sorry for him. Jennifer Connelly (who plays Nash's wife Alicia) done some wonderful acting in this film. The viewer ... Read review

Advantages: Intense, eye-opening, thrilling
Disadvantages: Dodgy camera shots

Al Pacino plays the journalist and Russell Crowe is Jeffrey Wigand, a former executive of tobacco company, Brown & Williamson & a whistleblower. The Story Jeffrey returns home, dejected & humiliated. He has just been fired from his job. But worse is to follow when he is approached by a journalist filled with questions about a document on cigarettes & fire safety belonging to another company. He is concerned to mention a confidentiality agreement ...
...legal action & to withdraw the ‘severance package’ of benefits he had from them. Then the threats draw closer to home, becoming more intimidating & more sinister. In order to escape the limitations on what he can say, Jeffrey must be legally obliged to breach the confidentiality agreement. However, a restraining order is made in the court of Kentucky against Wigand preventing him from doing so when he agrees to testify in a court of Mississippi about ... Read review

Advantages: Great acting and directing
Disadvantages: Imbalance at times. Have to be in the right frame of mind

This 2000 kidnap drama from director Taylor Hackford has a very good all round package. It has some marvellous scenery and some mood-setting lighting which has given this film some praise. It combines the talents of Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe in roles we would not normally associate them with. The Plot Alice and Peter Bowman are in South America with Peter an engineer working on a project. Peter is kidnapped by some anti-government guerillas and ...
...who must first ascertain whether Terry is alive or not. The emotional turmoil of such an experience is almost too much for Alice, and the kindness and intensity shown by Thorne leads her to feel very strongly for him, and he in turn finds the feeling mutual. The Cast and Performances Meg Ryan is outstanding as Alice. The acting involved in such an emtional character is performed with great skill and attention, and she is very convincing as Alice. ... Read review