这故事里的主人公是确有其人的。天才的数学家约翰·纳什(罗素·克洛 Russel Crowe)在麻省理工学院工作，很年轻时就作出惊人的数学发现，奠定了经济学中博弈论的数学基础，开始具有国际声誉。但30岁时他被诊断出患有妄想型精神分裂症。他的感情生活也并不单纯，包括一次因为在男洗手间的不适宜的暴露自己被逮捕，并在婚外有了孩子。他在自己的天才与狂乱中历经痛苦。他的那个美丽的头脑，不仅有过人智力更有过人勇气，使他终不至于沉入深渊。这是长而痛苦的旅程，然而疾病逐渐恢复，他更是因为关于博弈论的研究成果获得诺贝尔经济学奖。但是这并非一般意义上的传记电影。“它不是通过事实，而是通过想象来试图赞美一个生命的精神，并达到一些真理。”    

　　From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash, Jr. experiences it all. A mathematical genius, he made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery once he was diagnosed with schizophrenia (精神分裂症). After many years of struggle, he eventually triumphed over this tragedy, and finally, late in life, received the Nobel Prize. 　　

　　影片片段： 

　　John: The eager young minds of tomorrow.
Student : Can we leave one open, professor? It''s really hot, sir! John: Your comfort comes second to my ability to hear my own voice.
John: Personally, I think this class would be a waste of your, and what is infinitely worse, my time. However, here we are, so you may attend or not, you may complete your assignment as you will. We''ll have it done. Miss... 　　
Alicia: Excuse me, excuse me! Worker: Hey…
Alicia: Hi, eh, we have a little problem. It''s extremely hot in here with the windows closed, and extremely noisy with them open. So I was wondering if there''s any way you could, I don''t know, maybe work at some place else for about forty-five minutes.
Worker: No problem.
Alicia: Thank you so much!
Worker: That''s all right. John: As you''ll find, a multi-variable calculus has up to a number of solutions if I give you any problem.
John: As I was saying, this problem here, will take some of you many months to solve, for others among you, take you the term of your natural lives.  　

  来源：爱词霸