10 Movie Biopics That Were Far Too Easy On Their Subjects

3. A Beautiful Mind

Ron Howard's depiction of mathematician and noted paranoid schizophrenic John Nash is understandably easy on the man. Schizophrenia is not something we commonly think about in popular culture without some sort of stigma attached. Usually, the schizophrenic turns out to be the serial killer.

So it's understandable that Howard might want to shine a light on how schizophrenia can affect people. After all, Nash was a Nobel Laureate. Howard turned to visual hallucinations, something Nash never claimed to have experienced, but for a film audience was a much easier concept to accept than simply a voice in your head.

No one took issue with Howard's handling of the schizophrenia, as it was true to the spirit of the condition. Where audiences balked was the loving portrayal of the marriage of John (Russell Crowe) and Alicia Nash (Jennifer Connelly). The film does show that their relationship was fraught with tension, but it leaves out the spousal abuse, including at least one instance where he struck her at a party. They divorced in 1963, but she allowed him to live as a boarder since 1970. Their relationship wasn't rekindled until his Nobel recognition.

Even more troubling is the absence of the son John fathered with a nurse who he promptly abandoned after learning of her pregnancy.