Ron Howard is so mainstream it makes my teeth hurt. He has become the undisputed master of the inoffensive, safe, middle American, focus-group-tested blockbuster. And this Oscar will assure (if the box office of his films hasn’t already) that he’ll be churning out this pap for the next 20-30 years. This is not something to look forward to.
“A Beautiful Mind,” in addition to employing Jennifer Connelly, made its fortune by filing off the edges of its subject until nothing was left but a Ron-Howard-shaped blob. Show John Nash in all his difficult, prickly, brilliant glory – now there’s a movie. Just not this one. (And no, like most schizophrenics, Nash did not just see benign people who weren’t there. He had a lifelong struggle with a debilitating illness, which is much harder to depict than smiling little girls who appear and disappear.)
I’ve already listed several movies that should have been on the Best Picture list. As often happens with the Oscars, they managed to pick the worst one of even the list they had to choose from.
I remember when “Silence of the Lambs” won director, picture, actor and actress. The editorial page editor at my paper in Michigan wrote a long piece about how shocking it was that this amoral, ugly movie should be so honored. Well, it may have offended middle America, but it was a masterpiece. For once they got it right.
Which leads me to Peter Jackson. He managed a 16-month shoot for all three LOTR movies, ran the effects through his own effects company, and created a sweeping epic that thrilled both hardcore Tolkien fans and the totally uninitiated. If that doesn’t exemplify what it means to be a movie director, I don’t know what does.
Ron Howard – take a risk next time. Give it a try and see what happens.
I don’t have a problem with Ron Howard or Beautiful Mind. I liked the film. I think it deserved its nomination. I would have preferred Moulin Rouge as the winner, but it’s such a love it or hate it film that I knew it wouldn’t happen.
I don’t want to see the uncensored story of John Nash. Maybe I’m just getting old and cranky, but I’m not interested in going to the movies to get depressed. I can do that well enough on my own, thank you. I like the whimsy that Goldsman and Howard added to the Nash story in order to make a complex illness understandable and easier to digest. Then again, maybe I liked it because so many scenes were set at my alma mater.
Rock on Brother Adam.
Oh and Denzel Washngton can’t act. “Angry black guy” is not a character.
LOTR was by far the better film, but they don’t give Oscars to “genre” films. remember ’77? Annie Hall beat out Star Wars.