Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind" is just the kind of movie Hollywood makes. An eccentric genius falls in love while battling his personal demons. It's not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, but I've seen it before, and in a better version.

Avid watchers of film will equate "A Beautiful Mind" with a little indie flick that came out in 1998 called "Pi." (The actual title is the mathematical symbol.) That film also depicts a mathematical genius, number theory stretching beyond his control, and the game Go. But "Pi" itself was possessed of a spiraling madness. A reclusive mathematician whose computer spits out a 237 digit number which could be translated through Hebrew into the name of God, and thus finding patterns in all the chaotic events of daily life. It was directed by Darren Aronofsky, (who also directed "Requiem For A Dream" and is in talks to helm the "Batman: Year One" film) and was shot on grainy, 16mm black and white. "Pi" had edge and daring and a lot of other stuff "A Beautiful Mind" doesn't have.

That being said, "A Beautiful Mind." is a lovely little film. A man's battle with himself, and a love story to boost ticket sales. It's one of those slivers of a true story that is mostly fiction but we all wish happened anyway. Russell Crowe, in a brilliant performance, plays John Nash, a West Virginia math prodigy who can afford to be arrogant because he's always right. The rest of the movie for the most part is nothing new, but the character of John Nash is something I don't remember seeing. Mumbling in his near indecipherable accent, hobbling along as he ages, looking positively ill at ease in a tuxedo. This is a new level of fearlessness for Crowe. After a guy plays a disgraced-yet-studly Roman soldier in one of the most overrated films ever made, there is a level of coolness that one might feel the need to live up to. Not Crowe. He takes off his leather skirt and jumps right back into the deep characters where he left off with "The Insider."

As a director, Ron Howard is shamelessly commercial. That's not always a bad thing, but it ain't always good either. From his worst movies ("Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas") to his best, ("Apollo 13") Howard shows no artist's touch whatsoever. My feeling is that he just falls ass-backwards into the scripts that'll probably be the highest grossers. Well, more power to him. If he makes more movies like "A Beautiful Mind," he may find himself with one more fan. But pay Aronofsky some royalties, will ya?

*** out of 4