Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind" is based on the real-life story of mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. and his thorny path through the sufferings of schizophrenia to the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics.

In the film, Nash (Russell Crowe) arrives at Princeton in 1947. He is a recognized "genius of mathematics" back home and he is only interested in the world of formulas and numbers. He is looking for "one great idea," and finally finds one. After graduating from Princeton, Nash gets a prestigious job and even works for the Pentagon, breaking codes for the mysterious agent Parcher (Ed Harris).

Nash's life rolls along successfully when he marries a beautiful young student (Jennifer Connelly) and she becomes pregnant with their first child. However, Nash's life soon turns into a schizophrenic nightmare involving a psychiatric clinic, electric-shock therapy and mysterious voices ordering him to do strange things. Things go from bad to worse when Nash discovers he's been hallucinating for years.

The film is not overloaded with mathematical formulas; it is filled with dynamic action and a convincing drama created by the main character's psychic struggle. "A Beautiful Mind's" basic idea is of the triumphant victory of a strong mind and personality over a destructive illness.

In the middle, it may seem the movie is all about spooks, secret agents and missions: This aspect is brilliantly developed with traditional Hollywood lightness and humor. But the dominant line of the plot is the drama of a genius that is presented in a plain and understandable way.

In order to avoid excessive dramatics, scriptwriter Akiva Goldsman said, some fiction was added to the story, imparting some comedic elements to the film. For that, Goldsman has been nominated for an award from the Writers' Guild of America and the movie for 10 Oscars.