Director Ron Howard and star Russell Crowe of A Beautiful Mind suspect industry colleagues are discounting the film to sway Academy Award voters, the Associated Press reports.
“If there’s an attack strategy, that’s an impolitic tool,” Howard said. “It’s not about reminding people of your virtues; it’s about undermining the other candidate’s credibility. That’s a shame.”
Criticism has pointed to the film not following the life of diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and Nobel Prize mathematician John Forbes Nash exactly as it happened, including Nash’s reported homosexual tendencies and his past anti-Semitic remarks.
Nash denied he was gay or anti-Semitic on 60 Minutes, saying those “strange ideas during certain periods of time” were his “subconscious talking.”
Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman said they changed and omitted those parts of Nash’s life they considered unimportant to the story and to make the film more dramatic.
A Beautiful Mind is up for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director (Ron Howard), Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly), Best Adapted Screenplay (Akiva Goldsman), Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Best Music (score).
