A Beautiful Mind (Widescreen Awards Edition) (2002)

Soon after, Nash comes up with a genius economic theory that blasts his competition out of the water, giving him a choice on where he wants to continue his studies. He chooses Wheeler Labs in an MIT campus, where he meets Alicia Larde (Jennifer Connelly) while teaching. The love story starts immediately at this point, where Alicia starts attracting John by seeing other solutions to problems, and, in essence, challenging him. The heat of the classroom gets to the students, and Alicia stands up, opening the windows John had just closed to politely ask the construction workers to take their work elsewhere while they learn. Aww, again. All the while, John believes he has been working for the government decoding numbers that were plastered on a wall.

Alicia and John start a romantic affair after they stand under the stars, connecting "dots" as stars, making little things like an octopus. Their tryst begins in a restaurant where John is late, but brings a gift for Alicia. He remembers a line from their time standing outside at the formal event about her love for colours, and the prism he gives her shows every colour in the spectrum. Of course, this is a love story, and the expected "aww!" comes here.

All the while, John is fighting in his own mind with three specific characters: William Parcher (Ed Harris), Charles Herman (Paul Bettany), and little Marcee Herman (Vivien Cardone). Parcher has John convinced that the Russians are after him, and that if he dares speak to anyone about the confidential work he is engaged in, Parcher will let the Russians after him. The self-proclaimed prodigal roommate of Charles comes during John's days at Princeton during the doctoral program. Marcee is Charles' niece, and seems to be with Charles all the time.

When the characters come to the realization that Nash is indeed, 'crazy in love' with his work, they also see that the people John talks about never seem to appear at social functions, such as his wedding. John is committed to a psychiatric facility while giving a guest lecture at a university. After being subjected to multiple treatments of insulin shock therapy, John finds himself competent enough to battle the illness on his own. Fast forward to 1994, John is approached by a committee which nominates him for the nobel prize in economics for the game theory. John accepts it, and gives a speech about his wife, Alicia. Aww.

This movie starts out as totally intriguing one, but as much as I adore it, let us face it, it's a total love story, and I am a sap. Although this isn't a normal slap-you-in-the-face plot, the more subtle approach is cute. "I need to believe that something extra ordinary is possible...," says Alicia to John, proving her strong love for him. It was extra ordinary on how Howard pulled this film to such a beautiful presentation and plot.