A BEAUTIFUL MIND . . . OF A GLADIATOR

1.5 Stars
Year Released: 2003
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 17 minutes
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What happens when you combine two of Russell Crowe’s most well known movies and pepper it with his well established propensity for acting like a total jackass? You’d get this movie. The problem is you’d also get any number of similar skits or spoofs with Crowe as the butt of the joke.

Shot on the campuses of Princeton and Rutgers University, this short follows Maximus Nash as he struggles with the voices in his head to not assault every person who crosses his path. Meanwhile his love interest, Alice, does her best to help him and calm his violent tendencies. Every conceivable genre joke from “A Beautiful Mind” and “Gladiator” are well covered. There’s even a Paul Hogan character who pops up from time to time. Obviously, there’s a tremendous amount of slapstick. Most of it doesn’t work terribly well, but there are moments which are good for a few laughs.

The main problem with this short is there’s not a whole lot here that hasn’t already been said and done with Russell Crowe. Most notably, South Park made an hilarious episode devoted to Crowe. South Park also did their research enough to learn that Crowe was first a failed rock singer before he switched to acting. Things like this add a level of depth and interest that audiences appreciate.

Keep in mind that the creators of this short were all students at the Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts when they made this film. Also, owing to schedule constraints, they shot their movie during exams and doubled up cast and crew in a mad attempt to complete the project. Considering all this, it’s really not a bad effort and delivers a chuckle or two if you’re not already sick of the Russell Crowe spoof genre.



Posted on March 30, 2004 in Reviews by
Buffer

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