A man sees what no one else can, and we call him a genius. A man sees what no one else does, and we call him crazy.

This Oscar-winner for Best Picture is a movie about a man who was both, the true story of genius John Forbes Nash, Jr., who revolutionized mathematics and then became mentally ill. More than 40 years later, as he edged back into sanity, his contribution was recognized by some people in Sweden. They awarded him the Nobel Prize.

As the movie opens, it is just after World War II, and a group of bright young mathematicians are arriving at Princeton. They are proud because “mathematicians won the war,” and they are eager to make up for lost time. Nash (Russell Crowe) stands out. He is tactless, he does not go to class, and he does not produce anything publishable. A teacher once told him that he had a double helping of brains but half a helping of heart. It is not that he does not seem to care about norms of social behavior and academic performance – he does not even seem to notice them.

Then Nash has an idea, an anti-Darwinian notion that proves that more success for more people is achieved through cooperation than through competition. The elegance of his proof is a stunning achievement, and he is rewarded with an important position and allowed to select the classmates he wants as his colleagues. He even meets a beautiful student (Jennifer Connelly) who enjoys his directness and appreciates his “beautiful mind.” Nash is successful, saving the day when only he can see the pattern in a string of numbers from an intercepted Soviet message.

But then Nash begins to see patterns where there are none, and he is hospitalized. His powers of logic and focus and the love of his wife help him to reconnect to reality, and after decades of effort, he is able to teach at Princeton.

There is a heartbreaking moment near the end when Nash is leaving a classroom and a man he does not know approaches him to ask him something. Before answering, Nash turns to a student to ask whether she sees the man, too, because he is still not sure which people he sees approaching him actually exist. He has simply adapted to his delusions, by requiring proof, in classic mathematical or at least empirical terms.

This is an extraordinary story, and it has been made into an extraordinary movie. Crowe is, as always, simply magnificent in a role that would provide irresistible temptation for showboating for most actors. There are superb performances by everyone in the cast, including Connelly (an Oscar-winner for Best Supporting Actress), Paul Bettney, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer, Judd Hirsch, and a dozen others. What is really special here is the way that screenwriter Akiva Goldman and director Ron Howard have found a way to present both Nash’s genius and his mental illness in such compelling, cinematic, and accessible terms. Both in essence become characters in the story as we go inside his head and wonder with Nash what to believe. This is what makes the movie more than a disease-of-the-week special with color-by- numbers “heartwarming” moments of triumph over adversity. This is what makes the movie itself a true work of art.

Parents should know that the material might be very upsetting for kids, or for anyone who has relatives with mental illness or who knows very little about it. There are some strong scenes of family tension and peril, including a child in jeopardy, scuffles, and potential domestic abuse. There are graphic scenes of shock therapy and self-destructive behavior. A character is in peril involving shooting. There is also some crude language with sexual references.

Families who see this movie should talk about mental illness, about how people with mental illness need to be treated, and about what is different now in the way we treat the mentally ill from the days depicted in the movie. Families who want to know more should check the website for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy “Apollo 13” and “Parenthood,” also directed by Ron Howard. They might also like to read the book, by Sylvia Nasar, or Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!, a very engaging book about a brilliant physicist. Families who like board games should try Go, the Chinese board game played by the mathematicians in the movie. The rules are fairly simple, but the strategies are endlessly complex.

NOTE: DVD extras include all kinds of extra goodies, including an entire separate disk featuring footage of the real John Nash and more information about his work.

If not quite as sharp as it could be, “Big Trouble” is still a sharp, funny movie. Based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Berry, it has a terrific cast getting caught up in delicious comic chaos seasoned with a couple of howlingly funny wisecracks.

Tim Allen plays Eliot Arnold, a once-successful columnist reduced to writing ad copy after an altercation wiith his boss. He is held in contempt by his teen-age son Matt (Ben Foster), who is on a quest to “kill” a pretty classmate named Jenny (Zooey Deschanel) by squirting her with a water gun, part of a tag-like contest.

Meanwhile, Arthur (Stanley Tucci), Jenny’s stepfather, is the target of a less benign hitman. It seems that Arthur, a bag man for some bad guys, diverted some of what was in the bag into his own bank account. A couple of cops (Jeaneanne Garofolo and Patrick Warburton), a Frito-loving, tree-sitting, strong but sweet guy with a Jesus hairdo (Jason Lee), some Russians who deal weapons from the back room of a dingy bar, a nuclear device that looks like a garbage disposal, a remarkable number of televisions with their screens shot out, and a flock of goats all manage to play a part before things get resolved.

The translation of book to screen is uneven, primarily because the story is all situation and no character. Even with exceptionally strong personalities in the roles and a director with a refreshing combination of a laid-back tone and a brisk pace, the film still asks too much of the audience by wanting us to care about characters we hardly know.

Parents should know that the movie has comic violence (no one badly hurt), including shooting and scuffles. Characters lie, cheat, steal, smoke, drink, and use bad language. There are comic sexual situations (including a foot fetishist) and brief non-sexual nudity. The scenes involving airport security and a bomb on a plane, the reason the movie’s release was delayed after the terrorist attacks, may cause more twinges than laughter. The movie is at the upper end of the PG-13 rating, closer to an R.

Families who see this movie should talk about the relationship between Matt and Eliot and between Jenny and her mother and step-father. They should also talk about the decision faced by the film-makers following September 11. Should they have changed the story, in addition to delaying the release?

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Rat Race.

Some may say that only a guy could enjoy Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte des Loupes). After all, the movie contains lots of guy elements: gore, martial-arts, and werewolves. But, there’s more to this movie than blood and guts, and although it has its flaws, it’s worth seeing.

The story takes place around the time of the French Revolution. The tale is told, at least some of the time, from the perspective of Jacques Parren, an aristocratic Frenchman about to go to the guillotine. We learn that a ferocious beast has been killing hundreds of people in a creepy little town in the south of France called Gevaudan. A man by the name of Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) has been sent by the King of France to find and kill the rampaging beast. At Fronsac’s side is his blood-brother and close companion, Mani (Mark Dacascos), a member of the Iroquois tribe. Fronsac had earlier befriended Mani, the sole survivor of a war fought against European settlers in the New World, and has now brought Mani to France to help investigate the mysterious killings. Marianne (Emilie Duquenne), a witty and beautiful woman, is the object of Fronsac’s amorous affections. But she is also the object of another man’s obsession. That man is Jean-Francois (Vincent Cassel) – who also just happens to be Marianne’s brother.

The story line follows Fronsac on the trail of the killings. Will he get his man (or should we say, beast)? And if he does, what has motivated the killings? What (or who) is good, and what (or who) is evil?

The movie is often gripping. Indeed, one of its first images is that of a young woman running frantically across an open field. As she is running, she trips and falls on the ground. She then tries to climb her way up a rock, but we hear the growling of the beast and then see her get tossed around until the beast finally kills her. Perhaps taking a cue from Steven Speilberg’s opening sequence in Jaws, the director wisely does not show us the beast, allowing our imaginations to run wild.

There are many aspects of this movie that make it both aesthetically pleasing and intellectually stimulating, as well as a bloody thriller. The scenery in this movie is gorgeous, with shots of quaint southern French towns, lush open valleys, and eerie forests that have an other-worldly touch reminiscent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. (And, like Crouching Tiger, this movie has fabulous martial arts scenes.) The movie forces the audience to really think about who the bad guys are: is it the beast, or is it the blood-thirsty townspeople? There are no easy answers.

The sound effects provide an intriguing element that adds to the movie’s depth. The filmmakers use freeze frames and slow motion to emphasize particular sounds, such as that of a rain drop plunging into a puddle of water. When we hear a stick being whirled through the air, we distinctly hear the “whishing” noise as if it were right next to our ears.

In addition to outstanding sound design, the costume design is first rate. The costumes are lavish, and not only accurately depict the styles of the period but help define the characters as well.

The movie does have its flaws, though none can be characterized as fatal. It was hard to believe, for example, that Mani, an Iroquois Indian could be an expert martial artist in the 18th century. Also, the director overused slow-motion shots (especially during the fight scenes). These shots were inserted so often that they became tedious. The movie seemed to run on about twenty minutes too long. Perhaps if the director has cut out more slow-mo shots, the movie would have been a better length. Finally, the movie delivers too much information to the audience. There are things we just didn’t need to know, and that didn’t contribute to the overall story and effect.

Families should discuss how the townspeople in Gevaudan dealt with the beast and its killings. How did their actions compare with the way people today would deal with a similar problem? Did the townspeople deal with their fears appropriately? What does the beast represent? Why did they pick a Native American to play one of the main character’s roles? How did he compare to Gregoire de Fransac?

Parents should know that a fair number of scenes in this movie include: copious amounts blood, gory swordfights and other very graphic violence, women in peril, and a hideous beast that terrorizes and kills dozens of people. The R-rating for this movie is appropriate both for the violence quotient and also because the movie contains a somewhat graphic sex scene in a house of ill-repute.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy “Sleepy Hollow,” “Interview with the Vampire,” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

This tired attempt at comedy has no imagination or energy. The script is like a smudgy carbon originally rejected by Jerry Lewis as too dumb and then reworked for Gilbert Gottfried. It isn’t even second rate — it’s more like eighth rate. The biggest tragedy is the way it wastes the talents of people who deserve a lot better, especially its star, Saturday Night Live’s Chris Kattan, and castmates Peter Falk, Richard Roundtree, and Fred Ward.

Kattan plays Corky Romano, the outcast son of a crime family led by his father (Falk) and brothers (Chris Penn and Peter Berg). Corky is the white sheep of a family of black sheep. He is a tender-hearted vetrinarian who thinks his father is in the landscaping business. The FBI has the evidence they need on Pops, thanks to an informant. The family wants to destroy the evidence, so they decide to send someone undercover as an FBI agent. Since Corky is family, they trust him, and since he has had no connection with their operations, the FBI does not know him. They fix him up with a fake ID and a phony resume and send him into FBI headquarters as an agent.

The rest of the movie is the same lame jokes over and over again. And then over and over again again. Corky messes up but somehow it appears that he is a brilliant and fearless agent. People keep calling him by the name the hacker who created his record gave him — “Pissant,” and Corky keeps trying to make them pronounce it as though it were French: “Piss AUNT.” Corky knocks things over and gets beat up. Corky sings to cheesy 80’s music. Corky wears funny outfits. One of Corky’s brothers can’t read and the other doesn’t want anyone to know he’s gay. None of this is very funny the first time, and any humor it might have had is long gone before the movie is done recycling it. It will only appeal to giggly middle-schoolers who find the jokes enjoyably naughty. Let me put it this way. If you find it marvelously witty that the vetrinarian clinic is called “Poodles and Pussies” and that a snake crawls up Corky’s pants and comes out his fly, then you’ll love the rest of the movie.

Parents should know that there is comic violence, including shooting (no one gets hurt) and a lot of fighting. We hear of an offscreen crime in which the victim’s genitals were torn off, and see the flies buzzing above a corpse (played for comedy). A character is tortured by having jumper cables attached to his nipples and then being shocked. A character accidentally inhales cocaine and is supposed to be comically intoxicated. There is some bathroom humor. The FBI has racially diverse agents working well together, but the female agent complains of not being treated equally. There are sexist and anti-gay comments and some very vulgar language.

Families who see this movie should talk about the conflict between loyalty to the family and doing what is right. They might also want to talk about the way that many of the characters are hurt by not feeling loved and appreciated.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy other SNL-star movies like Wayne’s World and a much better crime comedy, Married to the Mob(mature material).

Before the opening credits are over, we’ve seen bathroom jokes and sexual humor, but at least this time it’s rated PG.

It really is a shame, because Eddie Murphy is just great as Dr. Dolittle, content to be the straight man to an adorable assortment of wise-cracking animals. And the story is a cute one. It’s a twist on the old classic “Born Free.” Dolittle needs to introduce a tame bear into the forest so that he can mate with the last female of their endangered species, in order to protect the forest from developers. Steve Zahn and Lisa Kudrow provide voices for the two bears so deliciously perfect that we want them to get together as much as Dolittle does. Meanwhile, Dolittle has some problems at home with a teen-aged daughter who has a new boyfriend (rapper Lil’ Zane) and a secret she isn’t ready to discuss.

Parents should know that the movie is raunchier than the usual PG, with a lot of bathroom humor and sexual references (kids may ask what it means to be “in heat”), but it is much milder and sweeter than other Murphy vehicles like the PG-13-rated first episode and the “Nutty Professor” movies.

Families who see this movie should talk about the difficulty of responding to the needs of the family and the responsibility to help others. They may also want to talk about the way that children sometimes feel embarassed by their parents, and the importance of listening to the people you love. Families might want to spend some time in a nature preserve and discuss ways to make sure that animals are treated with respect and dignity.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy “Cats and Dogs.” They might like to see the original “Dr. Dolittle” movie, a musical starring Rex Harrison.