> >But A Beautiful Mind is excellently done yet
> >wholly unoriginal and manipulative.
>
> Uh. Unoriginal? Please explain.
>
> Manipulative? In what sense?

"A Beautiful Mind" is pretty much a retread of "Rain Man" and other feel-good biographical movies about mentally ill geniuses. It is skillfully told, brilliantly acted, and cleverly scripted, but lacks the kind of complexities that would make it something worth chewing on and thinking about. Instead of inspiring feelings, it directs them, and that's what I mean by manipulative. Of course, all movies are manipulative to some degree; that's not a bad thing in itself. Still, better movies tend to let the audience decide for themselves how they feel about the story and the characters.

I like the movie. It's really well done, and it's fun. If I weren't trying to explain why it's not worthy of a Best Picture award, I'd be content to praise it and leave it at that. But it doesn't break any new ground and isn't what I'd expect from a Best Picture winner.