I finally saw “A Beautiful Mind” (2001), and I really liked it.  It had a fantastic script with great performances by Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany and Adam Goldberg.  I’d give it a 9 out of 10.

I had no idea that Crowe was this good of an actor.  He had a “Rain Man” role in this film, in which an established actor can show his range by portraying a mentally ill person.  Yet even his terrific performance here was maybe outshined by Harris’.  I don’t know what it is about Harris … but he grows on you.  He’s a great actor, even in a somewhat one-note role like the one he has here.   He can be forceful and intimidating, and even genuinely frightening, but also sympathetic at the same time.  (See his performances in “The Stand” miniseries (1994) or that Saturday-afternoon, guilty-pleasure standby, “The Rock” (1996).)  Plus he’s just got a damned cool voice.  And those crazy-ass eyes that bore right through you.  Seriously, if Ed Harris were your Dad, would you ever f%#@ up as a teenager?  Ever?  I would never come home late with beer on my breath, EVEN IF ED HARRIS WERE AN OUT-OF-STATE UNCLE.

Ron Howard’s directing was good – very good.  Still, I couldn’t help comparing him with other directors who have a genius for this kind of source material.  This is a movie where the main character comes to doubt his perceptions of reality – when I think of films like “12 Monkeys,” “Vanilla Sky” or “Jacob’s Ladder,” I couldn’t help but wonder if their directors really would have given a tour de force with this story’s fantastic elements.  Think about it … if Terry Gilliam had directed “A Beautiful Mind,” wouldn’t this great movie be even better?

All in all, though, this was an excellent film.  I cheerfully recommend it.