I find the controversy surrounding "A Beautiful Mind" to be rather stupid, and if the movie was not a strong Oscar contender, I doubt the discussions would be happening at all. John Nash (the subject of the movie) is appearing on "60 Minutes" to contest the critics of the movie, and an article about it appeared on page A6 of this morning's Sacramento Bee, while an article about the life sentence of convicted murderer Andrea Yates was pushed to page A17. Why? Perhaps it is because the A6 article was from The New York Times, and the author of the book that inspired the "Beautiful Mind" movie used to write for The Times. Or maybe it's because the editors at The Bee have spring fever and would rather be out boating than making news judgement in a large building in downtown Sacramento. At any rate, I thought that decision was quite interesting, but I'll move on now.

> If Lord of the Rings takes a back seat, then "A Beautiful Mind" is probably the horse to bet on. But there is considerable controversy over that film -- claims that the story was whitewashed to pander to the Academy.

I've read such claims, and while I won't get into debates over whether or not they're true, I wonder why people are making so much fuss about this particular movie. What movie ever TRULY includes all details in the original book? The book has been on my Amazon wish list since the day after I saw the movie, but I simply haven't had the time to read it, especially since I've already been in the middle of two other books for a while now. But that's beside the point. Why are people criticizing this movie so much? Is it because it's based on a true story, while movies such as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" are based on fiction? "Harry Potter" did a pretty good job at following the plot of the book, but parts were still naturally left out. Are people crying foul because of this? No. You simply can't include everything, and as I recall, the movie is *based* on the true story of John Nash, not *the full, unabridged* story of his life.

> For Adapted Screenplay, THIS may be where the controversy over how "A Beautiful Mind" was adapted for film will hurt it.

And again, I think it would be a mistake to judge a movie simply because it has gathered some controversy. However, I do think it will be interesting to see if the publicity hurts or helps the movie's Oscar chances. I still think it's an amazing movie, and even when you take the criticism into account, it's an amazing story.

Ellmyruh