A beautiful mind

I don't care how big a real-life jerk people make Russell Crowe out to be, he is a damn good actor.

I've seen him in A Beautiful Mind and actually the storyline is quite formulaic and perhaps a bit too sentimental (but what do you expect from a director like Ron Howard?), but his acting was superb, simply because it didn't even feel like he was acting. That's how I differentiate the good performers from bad. Those that are bad are self-conscious; they act for the camera and the viewer can sense it.

And he makes the viewers sympathise with him, which is not easy when you are dealing with modern-day audience who are impervious to cheap emotional stimuli due to the high diet of sickly-sweet Hollywood blockbusters. To touch them you have to costantly strive for another high in tear-inducing stimulation. I'm the kind of audience that do not cry easily at the movies, unless it's really pathetically sad.

Is that movie meant to be sad? I think it was supposed to be a inspiring and feel-good flick, but it makes me teary. His portrayal of a man caught within the chaos and turmoil of his own delusional mind makes you want to empathise and understand.

He acts altogether too well, that Russell Crowe.