Two star

IT may have picked up four awards from the Academy, but this film is not a winner with me.

The root of the trouble lies with Russell Crowe. His portrayal of flawed maths genius John Nash is so dour and miserable that I could muster very little sympathy at all for the character.

If the real-life John was as sullen as the one slugger Crowe gave us, there would have been no way the beautiful Jennifer Connelly would have married him and put up with his oddness.

The film tells the tale of how a mysterious conspiracy obstructed John's path to international mathematical brilliance.

It is poignant, disturbing and clever - I was caught out several times by the subtleties of the plot surrounding John's descent into mental frailty.

I became fonder of the film as it unravelled and Crowe had swapped his sneer for the grace of old age, grey hair and wrinkles.

When the story began meeting up with recent real-life, it became warmer and more realistic, climaxing in the heart-rending tea-room scene.

The fact that it is based on a true story is attractive; the reality that Russell Crowe is charged with this tribute is not.

SCC