Mathematicians won the war.
Mathematicians broke the Japanese codes
and built the A-bomb.
Mathematicians, like you.
The stated goal of the Soviets is global Communism.
In medicine or economics, in technology or space
battle lines are being drawn.
To triumph, we need results,
publishable, applicable results.
Now who among you will be the next Morse?
The next Einstein?
Who among you will be the vanguard of democracy,
freedom, and discovery?
Today, we bequeath America's future into your able hands.
Welcome to Princeton, gentlemen.
NEILSON: It's not enough Hansen won the Carnegie Scholarship.
BENDER: No, he has to have it all for himself.
It's the first time the Carnegie Prize has been split. Hansen's all bent.
NEILSON: He's got his sights set on Wheeler Lab,
the new military think-tank at MIT.
BENDER: They're only taking one this year.
Hansen's used to being picked first.
Yeah, he's wasted on math.
He should be running for president.
There could be a mathematical explanation for how bad your tie is.
(LAUGHING)
Thank you.
Neilson, symbol cryptography.
Neils here broke a Jap code. Helped rid the world of Fascism.
At least that's what he tells the girls, eh, Neils?
The name's Bender. Atomic physics.
And you are? Am I late?
Yes, Mr. Sol.
Good. Hi.
Sol. Richard Sol.
HANSEN: Ah, the burden of genius.
SOL: There he is.
So many supplicants, and so little time.
Mr. Sol. How are you, sir?
Bender. Nice to see you.
NEILSON: Congratulations, Mr. Hansen.
HANSEN: Thank you.
I'll take another.
Excuse me?
A thousand pardons. I simply assumed you were the waiter.
Play nice, Hansen.
Nice is not Hansen's strong suit.
HANSEN: An honest mistake.
Well, Martin Hansen.
It is Martin, isn't it?
Why, yes, John, it is.
I imagine you're getting quite used to miscalculation.
I've read your preprints, both of them.
The one on Nazi ciphers and the other one on nonlinear equations.
And I am supremely confident that there is not a single seminal
or innovative idea in either one of them.
Enjoy your punch.
(ALL CHUCKLE)
Gentlemen, meet John Nash, the mysterious West Virginia genius.
The other winner of the distinguished Carnegie Scholarship.
BENDER: Oh, okay. SOL: Oh, yeah?
BENDER: Of course.
(CORAL MUSIC PLAYING)
CHARLES: (COUGHS) Oh, Christ.
The prodigal roommate arrives.
Roommate?
Oh, God, no.
(MUSIC STOPS)
Did you know that having a hangover
is not having enough water in your body
to run your Krebs cycle?
Which is exactly what happens to you when you're dying of thirst.
So, dying of thirst
would probably feel
pretty much like the hangover that finally bloody kills you.
John Nash?
Hello.
Charles Herman. Pleased to meet you.
MAN: All right! Well done!
CHARLES: Well, it's official. I'm almost human again.
Officer, I saw the driver who hit me. His name was Johnnie Walker.
(MIMICS DRUM ROLL)
Well, I got in last night in time
for English department cocktails.
**** was mine,
the tail belonged to a particularly lovely young thing with a passion
for D. H. Lawrence. You're not easily distracted, are you?
I'm here to work.
Are you? Right. I see. Crikey!
Is my roommate a ****?
Hmm?
Listen. If we can't break the ice,
how about we drown it?
So what's your story?
You the poor kid that never got to go to Exeter or Andover?
Despite my privileged upbringing, I'm actually quite well-balanced.
I have a chip on both shoulders.
(CHUCKLES)
Maybe you're just better with the old integers than you are with people.
My first grade teacher, she told me
that I was born with two helpings of brain
but only half a helping of heart.
(CHUCKLES)
Wow! She sounds lovely!
The truth is that I don't like people much.
And they don't much like me.
But why, with all your obvious wit and charm?
(LAUGHS)
Seriously, John.
Mathematics.
Mathematics is never going to lead you to a higher truth.
And you know why?
Because it's boring. It's really boring.
You know, half these schoolboys are already published?
I cannot waste time with these classes and these books.
(COUGHS)
Memorizing the weak assumptions of lesser mortals!
(STUDENTS CHUCKLING)
I need to look through to the governing dynamics.
Find a truly original idea.
That's the only way I'll ever distinguish myself.
It's the only way that I'll ever... Matter.
Yes.
HANSEN: All right, who's next?
I've played enough Go for one day.
Come on. I hate this game.
Cowards, all of you!
None of you rise to meet my challenge?
Come on, Bender. Whoever wins, Sol does his laundry all semester.
Does that seem unfair to anyone else? Not at all.
SOL: Look at him.
Nash!
Taking a reverse constitutional?
I'm hoping to extract an algorithm to define their movement.
Oh.
Psycho.
Nash, I thought you dropped out.
You ever going to go to class or...
Classes will dull your mind.
Destroy the potential for authentic creativity.
Oh, I didn't know that.
Nash is going to stun us all with his genius.
Which is another way of saying he doesn't have the nerve to compete.
You scared?
Terrified. Mortified. Petrified.
Stupefied by you.
No starch.
Pressed and folded.
Let me ask you something, John.
Be my guest, Martin.
Bender and Sol here correctly completed
Allen's proof of Perron's conjecture.
Adequate work without innovation.
Oh, I'm flattered. You flattered?
Flattered.
And I've got two weapons briefs
under security review by the DoD.
Derivative drivel.
But Nash achievements, zero.
I'm a patient man, Martin. Is there an actual question coming?
What if you never come up with your original idea, huh?
How will it feel when I'm chosen for Wheeler and you're not?
(CHUCKLES)
What if you lose?
You should not have won.
I had the first move, my play was perfect.
The hubris of the defeated.
The game is flawed.
SOL: Oh!
Gentlemen, the great John Nash.
CHARLES: You've been in here for two days.
You know Hansen has just published another paper?
I can't even find a topic for my doctorate.
Well, on the bright side, you've invented window art.
This is a group playing touch football.
This is a cluster of pigeons fighting over breadcrumbs.
And this here is a woman who is chasing a man who stole her purse.
John, you watched a mugging. That's weird.
In competitive behavior, someone always loses.
Well, my niece knows that, John, and she's about this high.
See, if I could derive an equilibrium
where prevalence is a non-singular event, where nobody loses.
Can you imagine the effect that that would have on conflict scenarios...
When did you last eat?
Currency exchange?
You know, food.
You have no respect for cognitive reverie, you know that?
Yes. But pizza... (CHUCKLES)
Now, pizza I have enormous respect for.
And, of course, beer.
I have respect for beer.
I have respect for beer!
(PEOPLE LAUGHING)
BENDER: Good evening, Neils. Ladies. HANSEN: Hey, Nash.
Who's winning? You or you?
BENDER: Good evening, Nash.
SOL: Hey, guys. Hey, Nash.
WOMAN: He's looking at you for sure.
(MOUTHS) Me?
(MOUTHS) Nash.
Hey, Nash. Neils is trying to get your attention.
BENDER: You're joking. SOL: (CHUCKLES) Oh, no.
Go with God. Come back a man.
Fortune favors the brave.
Bombs away.
Gentlemen, might I remind you that my odds of success
dramatically improve with each attempt?
This is going to be classic.
Maybe you want to buy me a drink.
I don't exactly know what I'm required to say
in order for you to have *********** with me,
but could we assume that I've said all that?
Essentially, we're talking about fluid exchange, right?
So, could we just go straight to the ***?
That was sweet.
Have a nice night, asshole!
NEILSON: Ladies, wait! (MAN LAUGHING)
I especially liked the bit about fluid exchange. It was really charming.
HELINGER: Walk with me, John. I've been meaning to talk with you.
The faculty is completing mid-year reviews.
We're deciding which placement applications to support.
Wheeler, sir. That would be my first choice.
And, actually, I don't really have a second choice, sir.
John, your fellows have attended classes.
They've written papers. They've published.
Oh, I'm still searching, sir, for my... Your original idea.
Governing dynamics, sir.
It's very clever, John, but I'm afraid
it's just not nearly good enough.
May I? Thank you.
I've been working on manifold embedding.
My bargaining stratagems are starting to show some promise.
If you could just arrange another meeting,
if you would be kind enough, with Professor Einstein.
I've repeatedly asked you for that, sir. Now, John...
I'd be able to show him my revisions on his...
John.
Do you see what they're doing in there?
Congratulations, Professor.
Thank you, sir. Thank you.
It's the pens.
Reserved for a member of the department that makes the achievement of a lifetime.
Now what do you see, John?
Recognition.
Well done, Professor. Well done.
Well, try seeing accomplishment.
Is there a difference?
John, you haven't focused.
I'm sorry, but up to this point,
your record doesn't warrant any placement at all.
Good day.
And my compliments to you, sir.
Thank you so much.
I can't see it.
(EXCLAIMS IN PAIN)
Jesus Christ, John.
I can't fail.
This is all I am.
Come on, let's go out.
I have to get something done.
I can't keep staring into space.
John, that's enough!
Got to face the wall, follow their rules,
read their books, do their classes.
You wanna do some damage, that's fine, but don't mess around.
Come on! Go on, bust your head! Kill yourself.
John, do it. Don't mess around.
Bust your head! Go on, bust that worthless head wide open.
Goddamn it, Charles! What the hell is your problem?
It's not my problem.
And it's not your problem.
It's their problem.
Your answer isn't, "Face the wall. "
It's out there, where you've been working.
(JOHN GASPS)
(PANTING) That was heavy.
That Isaac Newton fellow was right.
He was onto something. (LAUGHING) Clever boy.
Don't worry, that's mine. I'll come and get it in a minute.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
Oh, God!
NEILSON: Incoming, gentlemen. (SOL EXCLAIMlNG)
Deep breaths.
SOL: Nash, you might want to stop shuffling your papers for five seconds.
I will not buy you gentlemen beer.
HANSEN: We're not here for beer, my friend.
JOHN: Oh.
Does anyone else feel she should be moving in slow motion?
Will she want a large wedding, you think?
Shall we say swords? Pistols at dawn?
Have you remembered nothing?
Recall the lessons of Adam Smith,
the father of modern economics.
ALL: "In competition, individual ambition serves the common good. "
Exactly!
Every man for himself, gentlemen.
BENDER: Those who strike out are stuck with her friends.
HANSEN: I'm not going to strike out.
SOL: You can lead a blonde to water, but you can't make her drink.
All right, nobody move.
She's looking over here. She's looking at Nash.
HANSEN: Oh, God. All right, he may have the upper hand now,
but wait until he opens his mouth.
(ALL LAUGHING) Remember the last time?
BENDER: Oh, yes. That was one for the history books.
Adam Smith needs revision.
What are you talking about?
If we all go for the blonde,
we block each other.
Not a single one of us is going to get her.
So then we go for her friends,
but they will all give us the cold shoulder
because nobody likes to be second choice.
Well, what if no one goes for the blonde?
We don't get in each other's way
and we don't insult the other girls.
That's the only way we win.
That's the only way we all get laid.
(CHUCKLES)
Adam Smith said, "The best result comes
"from everyone in the group doing what's best for himself. "
Right? That's what he said. That's right. Incomplete. Incomplete, okay?
Because the best result will come from everyone in the group
doing what's best for himself and the group.
Nash, if this is some way for you to get
the blonde on your own, you can go to hell.
Governing dynamics, gentlemen. Governing dynamics.
Adam Smith was wrong.
Here we go. Careful, careful.
Thank you.
"C" of "S" equals "C" of "T."
(MUTTERING)
(CONTINUES MUTTERING)
You do realize this flies in the face
of 150 years of economic theory?
Yes, I do, sir.
That's rather presumptuous, don't you think?
It is, sir.
Well, Mr. Nash, with a breakthrough of this magnitude,
I'm confident you will get any placement you like.
Wheeler Labs, they'll ask you to recommend two team members.
Stills and Frank are excellent choices.
Sol and Bender, sir.
Sol and Bender are extraordinary mathematicians.
Has it occurred to you, Mr. Nash,
that Sol and Bender might have plans of their own?
(BENDER AND SOL LAUGHING)
We made it!
Wheeler, we made it!
Cheers, cheers, cheers!
Oh! Oh!
Okay, awkward moment, gentlemen.
Governing dynamics.
Congratulations, John.
NEILSON: Toast! To Wheeler Labs!
To Wheeler!
MAN: General, the analyst from Wheeler Lab is here.
Dr. Nash, your coat?
Thank you, sir.
ROGERS: Doctor.
General, this is Wheeler team leader, Dr. John Nash.
Glad you could come, Doctor.
Hello.
Right this way.
We've been intercepting radio transmissions from Moscow.
GENERAL: The computer can't detect a pattern, but I'm sure it's code.
Why is that, General?
Ever just know something, Dr. Nash?
Constantly.
GENERAL: We've developed several ciphers.
If you'd like to review our preliminary data?
Doctor?
JOHN: 6-7-3-7. 0-3-6...
8-4-9-4.
9-1-4-0-3-4.
(CONTINUES MENTAL CALCULATIONS)
0-3-4.
I need a map.
46-13-08, 67-46-90.
Starkey Corners, Maine.
48-03-01. 91-26-35.
Prairie Portage, Minnesota.
These are latitudes and longitudes.
There are at least 10 others.
They appear to be routing orders across the border into the US.
Extraordinary.
Gentlemen, we need to move on this.
Who's Big Brother?
You've done your country a great service, son.
Captain! Yes, sir.
Accompany Dr. Nash.
What are the Russians moving, General?
Captain Rogers will escort you to the unrestricted area, Doctor.
Thank you.
ROGERS: Dr. Nash, follow me, please.
MAN ON RADIO: None of those who have said they don't like the method
have told us any other method they could use that would be effective.
DRIVER: It's Dr. Nash. GUARD: All right.
MAN: Thank you, sir. Home run at the Pentagon, huh?
Have they actually taken the word "classified" out of the dictionary?
Hi. The air conditioning broke again.
How am I supposed to be in here saving the world if I'm melting?
Our hearts go out to you, John.
You know, two trips to the Pentagon in four years.
That's two more than we've had.
It gets better, John.
Just got our latest scintillating assignment.
You know, the Russians have the H-bomb,
the Nazis are repatriating South America,
the Chinese have a standing army of 2.8 million,
and I am doing stress tests on a dam.
Look, you made the cover of Fortune again.
Please note the use of the word "you," not "we. "
That was supposed to be just me.
(CHUCKLES)
Not only do they rob me of the Fields Medal,
now they put me on the cover of Fortune magazine with these hacks,
these scholars of trivia.
John, exactly what is the difference
between genius and most genius?
Quite a lot.
He's your son.
Anyway, you've got 10 minutes.
I've always got 10 minutes.
BENDER: Before your new class?
Can I not get a note from a doctor or something?
You are a doctor, John, and no.
Come on. You know the drill, we get these beautiful facilities...
MIT gets America's great minds of today
teaching America's great minds of tomorrow.
Poor bastards.
Now, have a nice day at school.
The bell is ringing.
The eager young minds of tomorrow.
(LOUD JACKHAMMERING)
Can we leave one open, Professor? It's really hot, sir.
Your comfort comes second to my ability to hear my own voice.
Personally, I think this class will 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 assignments at your whim.
We have begun.
Miss.
Excuse me!
Hey, hey!
Hi!
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 was any way you could,
I don't know, maybe work someplace else for about 45 minutes?
FOREMAN: Not a problem.
Thank you so much!
FOREMAN: Break! WORKER: Got it!
FOREMAN: Let's go. Clean it up a little bit.
As you will find in multivariable calculus, there is often
a number of solutions for any given problem.
As I was saying, this problem here
will take some of you many months to solve.
For others among you,
it will take you the term of your natural lives.
PARCHER: Professor Nash.
William Parcher.
Big Brother,
at your service.
What can I do for the Department of Defense?
Are you here to give me a raise?
Let's take a walk.
Impressive work at the Pentagon.
Yes, it was.
Oppenheimer used to say, "Genius sees the answer before the question. "
You knew Oppenheimer?
His project was under my supervision.
Which project?
That project.
It's not that simple, you know?
Well, you ended the war.
We incinerated 150,000 people in a heartbeat.
Great deeds come at great cost, Mr. Parcher.
Conviction, it turns out,
is a luxury of those on the sidelines, Mr. Nash.
I'll try and keep that in mind.
So, John, no family,
no close friends.
Why is that?
I like to think it's because I'm a lone wolf.
But mainly it's because people don't like me.
Well, there are certain endeavors
where your lack of personal connection
would be considered an advantage.
This is a secure area.
PARCHER: They know me.
Have you ever been here?
We were told during our initial briefing
that these warehouses were abandoned.
That's not precisely accurate.
(LOUD RADIO CHATTER)
(MAN SPEAKING RUSSIAN ON RADIO)
PARCHER: By telling you what I'm about to tell you,
I am increasing your security clearance to top secret.
Disclosure of secure information can result in imprisonment.
Get it?
What operation?
Those are a good idea.
This factory is in Berlin. We seized it at the end of the war.
Nazi engineers were attempting to build a portable atomic bomb.
The Soviets reached this facility before we did,
and we lost the damn thing.
The routing orders at the Pentagon.
They were about this, weren't they?
The Soviets aren't as unified as people believe.
A faction of the Red Army calling itself Novaya Svoboda,
the "New Freedom," has control of the bomb
and intends to detonate it on U.S. soil.
Their plan is to incur maximum civilian casualties.
Man is capable of as much atrocity as he has imagination.
New Freedom has sleeper agents here in the U.S.
McCarthy is an idiot, but, unfortunately, that doesn't make him wrong.
New Freedom communicates to its agents
through codes imbedded in newspapers and magazines,
and that's where you come in.
You see, John, what distinguishes you
is that you are, quite simply,
the best natural code-breaker I have ever seen.
What exactly is it that you would like me to do?
Commit this list of periodicals to memory.
Scan each new issue, find any hidden codes, decipher them.
DOCTOR: Place your chin on the chin rest.
Stare into the light.
TECHNIClAN: Pulse 88, regular.
Okay, this may be a little uncomfortable.
(GROANS)
PARCHER: It's got a little zap to it, doesn't it?
He just implanted a radium diode.
Don't worry, it's safe.
The isotope decays predictably.
As a result, these numbers change over time.
They're the access codes to your drop spot.
So what am I now, a spy?
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
Come.
Boy, you must be really important.
It's all right, Mike.
What are you working on?
Classified.
Everyone waited half an hour.
For?
Class.
You missed class today.
Well, I suspect that
nobody missed me.
The problem that you left on the board...
I solved it.
No, you didn't.
You didn't even look.
I never said that the vector fields were rational functions.
Your solution is elegant.
Though on this particular occasion
ultimately incorrect.
You're still here.
I'm still here.
Why?
I'm wondering, Professor Nash,
if I can ask you to dinner.
You do eat, don't you?
On occasion, yeah.
Table for one. Prometheus alone, chained to the rock
with the bird circling overhead, you know how it is.
(CHUCKLES)
No, I expect that you wouldn't know.
Leave your address with my office.
I'll pick you up Friday at 8:00 and we'll eat.
One more thing. Do you have a name,
or should I just keep calling you "miss"?
Governor, may I present...
Miss Alicia Larde. Miss Alicia Larde.
Professor, please. You and the governor.
Wait, one second. I'm sorry.
I want a copy of this. First big date and all, you know.
So, you boys need to look good,
which is not a state you find yourselves in altogether naturally.
There. Better.
I'm surprising him.
You just keep on surprising him. Professor.
God must be a painter.
Why else would we have so many colors?
So you're a painter?
That's not actually what I said,
but, yes, I am.
Here.
Me. Your date.
Practice human interaction and social comportment.
(LAUGHING) That's a plan.
Champagne would be lovely.
I'll be outside.
I will get the champagne.
ALIClA: Oh, thank you.
Thank you for that.
No, keep it.
I believe in deciding things will be good luck.
Do you?
No.
I don't believe in luck.
(SNIFFS)
But I do believe in assigning value to things.
Oh.
I once tried to count them all.
I actually made it to 4,348.
You are exceptionally odd.
I bet you're very popular with the girls.
A pair of odd ducks, then.
Mmm.
Pick a shape.
What?
Pick a shape, an animal, anything.
Okay.
An umbrella.
Do it again.
All right. What would you like?
Do an octopus.
(DOG BARKS)
(CHUCKLES)
You don't talk much, do you?
I can't talk to you about my work, Alicia.
I don't mean work.
I find that polishing my interactions
in order to make them sociable requires a tremendous effort.
I have a tendency to expedite information flow
by being direct.
I often don't get a pleasant result.
Try me.
All right.
I find you attractive.
Your aggressive moves towards me
indicate that you feel the same way.
But still, ritual requires that
we continue with a number of platonic activities
before we have ***.
I am proceeding with those activities,
but in point of actual fact,
all I really want to do is have *********** with you as soon as possible.
Are you going to slap me now?
How was that result?
MARCEE: What are you doing?
I'm attempting to isolate patterned reoccurrences
within periodicals over time. And you?
You talk funny, Mr. Nash.
Do I know you?
My uncle says you're very smart
but not very nice,
so I shouldn't pay no mind if you're mean to me.
And who might your uncle be?
CHARLES: The prodigal roommate
returns.
Come here! Charles, Charles.
My sister got herself killed in a car crash.
Not too far now, Marcee!
Her cowboy husband was too drunk
to know that he was too drunk to drive.
So, I took her in.
She's so small.
Well, she's young, John. That's how they come.
I'm at Harvard doing the great author's workshop.
D. H. bloody Lawrence.
I really do think you should buy yourself a new book.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, I've been reading a lot about you.
How are you, John?
At first, all my work here was trivial,
but a new assignment came up and...
I can't really tell you any details.
Top secret? Black bag? Black ops?
Something like that.
And...
Yes?
Well, I met a girl.
No! A human girl? Homo sapien.
A biped? Yep. And contrary to all probabilities,
she finds me attractive on a number of different levels.
God, that's wonderful.
Well, there's no accounting for taste, is there?
Should I marry her?
God. Right.
I mean, everything's going well.
The job is fine. I have enough money.
It all seems to add up.
But how do you know for sure?
Nothing's ever for sure, John.
That's the only sure thing I do know.
WAITER: Good evening.
Alicia, please don't be angry. I just lost track of time at work,
again. Mmm-hmm.
I'm sorry.
I didn't have time to wrap it.
Happy birthday.
The refractive faces of the glass, you see,
they create a full wavelength dispersal,
so if you look inside it, you can see...
ALIClA: Every possible color.
Every possible color. Yeah.
Remember you said that time, "God must be a painter because of all the colors"?
At the governor's house, you said that.
I didn't think you were listening.
I was listening.
It's beautiful.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
Alicia, does our relationship warrant long-term commitment?
Because I need some kind of proof,
some kind of verifiable, empirical data.
(LAUGHS NERVOUSLY)
I'm sorry, just give me a moment
to redefine my girlish notions of romance.
A proof?
Verifiable data.
Okay.
Well, how big is the universe?
Infinite.
How do you know?
I know because all the data indicates it's infinite.
But it hasn't been proven yet? No.
You haven't seen it. No.
How do you know for sure?
I don't, I just believe it.
Mmm.
It's the same with love, I guess.
Now, the part that you don't know
is if I want to marry you.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)
Smile for the camera!
Well done!
Congratulations.
You look beautiful.
Hi, how are you?
WOMAN 1: Bye-bye. MAN: Bye, now.
WOMAN 2: Bye! WOMAN 3: Bye!
WOMAN 4: Be safe!
Get in. Hurry.
They're following us.
Who is... Who is following us?
The drop has been compromised.
Get down!
Stay down.
(HORNS HONKING)
(TIRES SCREECHING)
(GUNFIRE)
Here, take this.
I ain't shooting anybody.
Take the goddamn gun!
No!
(SCREAMS)
PARCHER: You stay back. Don't move.
(SCREAMS)
(GROANS)
(TIRES SCREECHING)
ALIClA: John?
Hi.
Where were you?
Sol... Yeah, I talked to Sol.
He said you left the office hours ago.
Why didn't you call me?
Are you all right?
Honey? (BOLT LOCKS)
John.
Please, talk to me. Tell me what happened.
John, open the door.
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
Come on, open the door! Let me in!
Talk to me!
John!
Open this door!
(PANTING)
WOMAN: Watch for cars, kids.
(DOOR SLAMS) What was that?
PARCHER: John.
William.
This is not what I signed up for.
Every time a car backfires or a door slams...
I understand better than you could possibly imagine.
You need to calm down, John.
Now listen to me. We're closing in on the bomb,
in large part due to your work.
Now don't you think your fear is a small price to pay?
William, my circumstance has changed.
Alicia's pregnant.
I told you attachments were dangerous.
You chose to marry the girl.
I did nothing to prevent it.
The best way to ensure everybody's safety
is for you to continue your work.
Well, I'll just quit.
You won't.
Why would I not?
Because I keep the Russians from knowing you work for us.
You quit working for me,
I quit working for you.
Parcher! Parcher!
John, you all right?
John?
Turn it off! Turn off the light!
Why would you do that? Why would you turn the light on?
What is wrong with you?
You have to go to your sister's.
I left the car at the back.
Now you can take Commonwealth, no side streets.
John... Stay where it's crowded.
John, I'm not going anywhere!
When you get to your sister's, you wait for me to call.
No, I'm not going.
Just get your things. I'm not leaving!
Stop! Stop it.
Please, Alicia.
I'll explain when I can.
MARCEE: Uncle John! Uncle John!
(ROARS)
Hey, baby girl! (GIGGLING)
Wow, someone needed a hug.
I saw you on the slate, and I thought to myself,
"How can I miss seeing a guest lecture by the inimitable John Nash?"
What's wrong?
I got myself into something. I think I might need some help.
Well, now you tell me, what is it?
WOMAN: Professor Nash!
Welcome!
After?
So, we see that the zeroes of the Riemann zeta function
correspond to singularities in space-time.
Singularities in space-time then...
And conventional number theory...
It breaks down in the face of relativistic exploration.
Sometimes our expectations are betrayed by the numbers.
Variables are impossible to assign any rational value.
(ALL MURMURING)
Professor Nash!
Hold it!
Professor Nash?
Professor Nash, let's avoid a scene, shall we?
What do you want?
My name is Rosen.
Dr. Rosen. I'm a psychiatrist.
Forgive me if I don't seem persuaded.
I'd like you to come with me, John.
Just for a chat.
It appears I have no choice.
(GROANS)
Help me! Somebody!
(SCREAMS)
Somebody! Help me!
Get off me!
I know who you are! I know who you are!
No, no, no, don't! JOHN: Charles!
Charles, they're Russians! Charles, they're Russians!
Call somebody! Call somebody, Charles!
They're Russians! Steady the leg.
Get away from me.
Stay away from me!
ROSEN: There, now.
All better.
Everything's all right here.
Watch your head.
ROSEN: (FAINTLY) John? John?
Can you hear me?
(RADIATOR CLANGING)
Go easy now.
Thorazine takes a little while to wear off.
Sorry about the restraints.
But you've got one hell of a right hook.
(WEAKLY) Where am I?
(CLEARING THROAT)
MacArthur Psychiatric Hospital.
I find that highly unlikely.
You made a mistake.
My work is non-military in application.
Which work is that, John?
I don't know anything.
There's no good in keeping secrets, you know.
(GROANS)
(BUZZER SOUNDING)
Charles?
I didn't mean to get you involved in this.
I'm... I'm sorry.
Charles?
The prodigal roommate revealed.
"Saw my name on the lecture slate"?
You lying son of a *****!
Who are you talking to? Tell me who you see.
How do you say "Charles Herman" in Russian?
How do you say it in Russian?
ROSEN: There's no one there, John.
There's no one there.
He's right there. He's right there.
Stop! I don't know anything! Stop! I don't know anything!
My name is John Nash. I'm being held against my will.
Somebody call the Department of Defense.
My name is John Nash. I'm being held against my will!
ALIClA: What's wrong with him?
John has schizophrenia.
People with this disorder are often paranoid.
But... But his work.
He deals with conspiracy. So...
Yes. Yes, I know.
In John's world, these behaviors are accepted, encouraged.
As such, his illness may have gone untreated
far longer than is typical.
What do you mean? How long?
Possibly since graduate school.
At least that's when his hallucinations seem to have begun.
What are you talking about? What hallucinations?
One, so far, that I am aware of.
An imaginary roommate named Charles Herman.
Charles isn't imaginary.
He and John have been best friends since Princeton.
Have you ever met Charles? Has he ever come to dinner?
He's always in town for so little time, lecturing.
Was he at your wedding?
He had to teach.
Have you seen a picture of him,
or talked to him on the telephone?
This is ridiculous.
I phoned Princeton.
According to their housing records, John lived alone.
Now, which is more likely? That your husband,
a mathematician with no military training,
is a government spy fleeing the Russians...
You're making him sound crazy.
Or, that he has lost his grip on reality?
Now, the only way I can help him is to show him the difference
between what is real and what is in his mind.
Come on.
What's he been working on?
His work is classified.
He mentioned a supervisor by the name of William Parcher.
Maybe Mr. Parcher can clarify things for us.
But I can't get to him without clearances.
You want me to help you get the details of my husband's work?
John thinks I'm a Russian spy. Is that what you think?
What did the doctor say? Is he sick?
I don't know. I want to see what John's been working on.
Alicia, you know, you can't go in his office.
You know, it's classified, Alicia. Stop.
Oh, my God.
Why didn't you say something?
Alicia, I mean, John has always been a little weird.
He said he was doing code-breaking. That it was eyes-only.
Top-secret, part of the military effort. Was he?
Well, it was possible, you know?
I mean, directives come down all the time
that some of us aren't cleared for.
It was possible.
Possible, but not likely.
Lately, he'd become so much more agitated, and then when you called...
So, is this all he's been doing every day?
Cutting up magazines?
Well, not all.
(SOBS) I'm so sorry.
It's okay.
I missed you.
I have to talk to you.
Okay.
Alicia, I've been thinking about it,
and I do realize that my behavior
and my inability to discuss the situation with you
must have appeared insane. I left you with no other choice.
I do understand, and I'm truly sorry.
That's okay.
Everything is gonna be all right.
(WHISPERS) We just have to talk quietly.
They may be listening. There may be microphones.
I'm gonna tell you everything now.
It's breaking with protocol, but you need to know
because you have to help me get out of here.
Alicia, I've been doing top-secret work for the government.
There's a threat that exists of catastrophic proportions.
I think the Russians feel my profile is too high.
That's why they simply just don't do away with me.
They're keeping me here to try to stop me from doing my work.
You have to get to Wheeler. Stop.
You have to find William Parcher. Stop.
He could help us. He could help us. Stop. Stop.
He could help us... Stop!
I went to Wheeler.
Good, good.
There is no William Parcher.
Of course there is. I've been working for him.
Doing what? Breaking codes?
Dropping packages in a secret mailbox for the government to pick up?
How could you know that?
Sol followed you.
He thought it was harmless. Sol followed me?
They've never been opened.
It isn't real.
There is no conspiracy, John.
There is no William Parcher.
It's in your mind.
Do you understand, baby?
You're sick.
You're sick, John.
John?
Code red. Dr. Rosen, code red. Observation Room 2.
Dr. Rosen, code red. Observation Room 2.
John?
The implant is gone.
I can't find it.
It's gone.
ROSEN: You see, the nightmare of schizophrenia
is not knowing what's true.
Imagine if you had suddenly learned that
the people and the places and the moments most important to you
were not gone, not dead,
but worse, had never been.
What kind of hell would that be?
FEMALE NURSE: Administering insulin.
MALE NURSE: 8:42 a. m.
How often?
Five times a week for 10 weeks.
ALIClA: John always spoke so fondly of being here at Princeton.
And Hansen is running the department now.
So he keeps reminding us, and reminding us. (CHUCKLES)
Yeah.
John won't come near the campus, though. I think he's ashamed.
(BABY CRIES)
Hey, hey.
Want this?
So, Alicia, how are you holding up?
Well, delusions have passed.
They're saying with the medication and low stress environment...
No...
I mean, how are you?
I think often what I feel
is obligation.
Or guilt over wanting to leave.
Rage against John, against God, and...
But...
Then I look at him,
and I force myself to see the man that I married.
And he becomes that man.
He's transformed into someone that I love.
And I'm transformed into someone who loves him.
It's not all the time, but
it's enough.
I think John is a very lucky man, Alicia.
So unlucky.
ALIClA: This is us. This is it?
It's nice.
It's near where I work.
John? You have a visitor.
(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO)
Hi.
I hope it's okay.
(JOHN TURNS OFF RADIO)
Hey, chief.
Cigarette? No, thanks.
I quit, actually.
Hello. Hey, John.
Have you met Harvey?
(STAMMERS IN EMBARRASSMENT)
John, there's no... Relax, it's okay.
There's no point in being nuts if you can't have a little fun.
(LAUGHS NERVOUSLY) Jesus Christ, John. You know, I should have known.
Here you go.
I can take those later.
You're supposed to take them now.
Can I bring you something?
I'm okay.
Okay.
So, yeah, I was in town giving a workshop.
I go back tonight.
You know, Bender, he really wanted to stop by
and, you know, see you. You know, say hi.
Squeamish?
Yeah.
I suppose I would be, too.
But, alas, I'm stuck with me.
I'm trying to solve the Riemann hypothesis.
Uh-huh.
Yeah?
I figured if I dazzle them
they will have to reinstate me.
But it's difficult with the medication
because it's hard to
see the solution.
You know, John, you should go easy.
There are other things besides work.
What are they?
(BABY CRYING)
(SHUSHING)
(DOOR CLOSES)
What are you thinking about?
What do people do?
It's life, John.
Activities available.
Just add meaning.
You could try leaving the house.
You know, maybe talk to people.
You could try taking out the garbage.
(JOHN CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
And there's some more... There's some more in...
Who... Who were you talking to?
Garbage man.
Garbage men don't come at night.
I guess around here they do.
(MAN WHISTLES)
(TRUCK APPROACHING)
(CHUCKLES)
Sorry.
(SIGHS)
ALIClA: Is it the medication?
(DOOR CLOSES)
(SCREAMING)
(SOBBING) I don't know what to do.
(SOBBING CONTINUES)
My mother's going to keep the baby a little longer tonight.
I can get three hours of overtime.
(SIGHS)
(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO)
I'm going to bed.
Good night.
(CLATTERING) (GASPS)
(TWIG SNAPPING)
(GUNS COCKING)
PARCHER: It's good to see you, John.
It's been a while.
Parcher?
Yes, sir.
You're not real!
Of course I am. Don't be ridiculous.
(GUNS COCKING)
I don't think that I would go that way, John.
It's time for you to get back to work.
The bomb is in its final position here in the U.S.
Knowing your situation requires
you keep a low profile, Mohammed,
we've brought the mountain to you.
(GENERATOR WHIRRING)
(FAINT RADIO FEEDBACK)
We've narrowed the bomb's location
to somewhere on the eastern seaboard,
but we haven't been able to pinpoint its exact position.
(MAN SPEAKING RUSSIAN ON RADIO)
Their codes have grown increasingly complex.
(BEEPING)
Look at this, John.
What? What?
Dr. Rosen said...
Rosen! That quack!
"Schizophrenic break from reality," right? Psychological bullshit!
Look at me, John.
John, look at me.
Do I look like I'm imagined?
Wheeler has no record of you.
Do you think we list our personnel?
(SCOFFS)
John, I'm sorry you had to go through all this.
I've gone to a great deal of trouble to get you back.
I can restore your status at Wheeler.
I can let the world know what you did.
But I need you now, soldier.
I was so scared you weren't real.
There's a storm coming.
I'm just going to grab the laundry. Okay?
I'll draw his bath.
It's okay.
Okay.
(FAINT RADIO FEEDBACK)
(INDISTINCT VOICES CHATTERING ON RADIO)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING CONTINUES)
(RADIO FEEDBACK CONTINUES)
(WHIMPERING)
(GASPS)
(CRYING)
ALIClA: John!
I've almost got it! Charles, you just watch the baby.
No!
Oh, God. (BABY CRYING)
Charles was watching him. He was okay.
There is no one here.
Oh, my God!
Charles was watching him. There is no one here!
He's been injected with a cloaking serum.
I can see him because of a chemical
that was released into my bloodstream
when my implant dissolved.
I couldn't tell you, it was for your own protection!
Alicia!
No!
Hello, I need Dr. Rosen's office, please.
PARCHER: You've got to stop her, John.
You leave her out of it.
Who are you talking to?
It's not her fault. John.
She'll compromise us again. No, she won't.
You'll go back to the hospital.
John, answer me!
Countless people will die.
Alicia, please put the phone down.
I can't let that happen.
Yes, hello? Hi, I need Dr. Rosen. Is he in?
I'm sorry, John.
No!
(EXCLAIMS)
(BABY CRYING)
Alicia.
PARCHER: You know what you have to do, Nash.
Get away from me.
She's too great a risk. Get away!
I didn't mean to hurt you!
Finish her. She knows too much now.
MARCEE: Uncle John?
You take care of her, you pathetic piece of shit, or I'll take care of you.
John. Christ, John, please do what he says.
Move, soldier.
Now.
MARCEE: Uncle John?
CHARLES: John, please!
Now!
JOHN: Alicia and Charles never coexist in the same interactive field.
(VOICES ECHOING) Parcher and Charles...
Charles and Marcee cannot coexist with Alicia.
With Alicia.
I understand.
(TIRES SCREECHING)
No!
She never gets old.
Marcee can't be real. She never gets old.
You see them now?
Yes.
Why did you stop your meds?
Because I couldn't do my work.
I couldn't help with the baby. I couldn't...
I couldn't respond to my wife.
You think that's better than being crazy?
We'll need to start you on a higher run
of insulin shocks and a new medication.
No.
There has to be another way.
ROSEN: Schizophrenia is degenerative.
Some days may be symptom-free, but over time, you are getting worse.
It's a problem. That's all it is.
It's a problem with no solution.
And that's what I do, I solve problems.
That's what I do best. This isn't math.
You can't come up with a formula to
change the way you experience the world.
All I have to do is apply my mind.
ROSEN: There's no theorem, no proof.
You can't reason your way out of this.
Why not? Why can't I?
Because your mind is where the problem is in the first place.
I can do this.
I can work it out. All I need is time.
(BABY GIGGLING)
Is that the baby?
The baby is at my mother's, John.
(MARCEE HUMMING)
Without treatment, John, the fantasies may take over entirely.
ALIClA: You almost ready?
Rosen's waiting outside.
I can't go back to that hospital.
I won't come home.
He said that if you said that he has commitment papers for me to sign.
Well, maybe you won't sign them.
Maybe you'll just give me some time.
I will try to figure this out.
Whatever you do, Rosen is right about one thing.
You shouldn't be here.
I'm not safe anymore.
Would you have hurt me, John?
I don't know.
Maybe you should let Dr. Rosen drive you to your mother's.
(SNIFFS)
ALIClA: He told me to leave.
(ROSEN CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
ALIClA: I understand.
(CAR DOORS CLOSING)
(ENGINE STARTING)
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Rosen said to call if you try and kill me, or anything.
You want to know what's real?
This.
This is real.
Maybe the part that knows the waking from the dream,
maybe it isn't here.
Maybe it's here.
I need to believe that something extraordinary is possible.
(CHATTERING)
HANSEN: Come.
Hello, Martin.
Jesus Christ.
No, I...
I don't have that one. My savior complex takes on a completely different form.
(JOHN CHUCKLES)
I heard what happened and I wanted to write,
and I tried you at MacArthur's,
but you'd left, and I just...
This is Helinger's old office.
Yeah.
Yeah, I stole it from him.
Seems that you won after all, Martin.
They were wrong, John. No one wins.
Please, please, have a seat.
God, it's so good to see you.
What brings you back to Princeton?
John? John, I'm sorry, but you have to tell him.
Tell him you're a genius. You're a genius, John!
Tell him your work is critical. John, please!
Is there any chance that you could ignore what I just did?
Of course. What are old friends for?
Is that what we are, Martin? Friends?
John, of course.
Of course. We always have been.
Alicia and I think that fitting in, being part of a community,
might do me some good.
That a certain level of attachment,
familiar places, familiar people,
might help me elbow out
these certain delusions that I have.
It's a lot to ask, and now that I'm here,
I'm quite certain that you will just say no.
But I was wondering if I could hang around.
(SIGHS)
Huh.
Will you be needing an office?
No.
No, I could just work out of the library.
Well, this guy tries to wander into the library,
but he doesn't have ID.
Why can't people read their memos, huh?
Then, he goes totally nuts.
You're not real! You're not real.
There's no mission.
Shit. Shit.
You're not real! You are not real!
Is this what you are, soldier? Some useless ghoul?
The local madman?
I'm not a soldier.
You're gonna end up in a cell!
Old, worthless, discarded.
There's no mission.
And while you rock and drool, the world will burn to ashes!
You are not real! You are not real!
You're still talking to me, soldier.
There's no mission! I'm not a soldier!
John! John!
Hey, hey, hey. John, John. It's okay.
I just heard what happened, I'm sorry. John.
I'm not a soldier. John. Hey, Nash.
Nash, hey, you're all right.
Nash.
Ladies and gentlemen, the great John Nash!
John?
JOHN: You should've seen their faces.
Everybody was just staring at me.
John, you know that stress triggers the delusions.
I know.
But then, on the way home, Charles was there.
Sometimes, I really miss talking to him.
Maybe Rosen's right.
Maybe I have to think about going back into the hospital again.
No. Come here.
Maybe try again tomorrow.
John, now you can't ignore me forever.
Charles, you've been a very good friend to me. The best.
But I won't talk to you again.
I just can't.
Same goes for you, baby girl.
(SNIFFLES)
Good-bye.
I was wondering if I might audit your course.
It's an honor, Professor Nash.
Is something wrong?
This will be my first class.
Good morning, eager young minds.
(MUTTERING)
It's never going to work, John.
You're just humiliating yourself.
It's pathetic! You are being pathetic.
I'm ashamed of you!
(STUDENTS LAUGHING)
Man!
Are you coming? You're going to be late.
Dad, you've got my book. What?
You've got my book.
Right.
Thanks.
Good-bye. Bye.
ALIClA: See you tonight.
Bye, honey.
Did you just solve Riemann?
Well, what do you think?
Huh.
That's an analog to Frobenius for non-commutative extensions.
Yes, it is.
But it only appears to work sporadically, so, no.
But I believe I'm making progress.
You're John Nash, right?
Toby Kelly. Hello.
I've been studying your equilibrium,
the one you wrote here at Princeton.
To come up with something totally original, the way you did.
You know, I was young. (CHUCKLES)
I've been developing a theory.
I believe I can prove that Galois extensions are covering spaces.
That everything, everything is connected.
That it's all part of the same subject.
When was the last time you ate?
Excuse me?
You know, food.
Oh... Uh...
My wife, she loves mayonnaise.
Thank you.
Go on.
The function is in the two categories.
Mmm-hmm.
HANSEN: Alicia!
Alicia!
JOHN:...and meet together at a maximum speed
of, let us say, 10 miles per hour.
So you have a fly on the tire of bicycle "B,"
and the fly, who can travel at 20 miles an hour,
leaves the tire of bicycle "B" and flies to the tire of bicycle "A,"
and backwards and forwards, and so on and so forth, until the two bikes collide
and the poor little fly is squashed.
This is the important thing about actually focusing in and comprehending
the area that you're dealing with. Mathematics is very specific,
and it is an art form, no matter what these people around here will tell you,
especially the people from Biology.
Don't listen to any of those people. (ALL CHUCKLING)
Let me go back to what you were doing before
because I think I might want to steal this
and write a book and get famous.
(STUDENTS CHUCKLING)
I was thinking that I might teach.
A classroom with 50 students can be daunting for anyone.
John, besides, you're a terrible teacher.
I'm an acquired taste, Martin.
I was hoping there still might be something I could contribute.
What about the...
Well, you know. Are they gone?
No, they're not gone.
And maybe they never will be.
But I've gotten used to ignoring them,
and I think, as a result, they've given up on me.
You think that's what it's like with
all our dreams and our nightmares, Martin?
You've got to keep feeding them for them to stay alive?
John, they haunt you though.
They're my past, Martin. Everybody is haunted by their past.
Well, good-bye.
John, I'll talk to the department.
Maybe in the spring.
Hey, Nash.
You scared?
Terrified. Mortified. Petrified.
Stupefied by you.
Now you ought best ring Alicia, or you're gonna get me...
I'll ring her. ...in an awful lot of trouble.
Thanks, Professor. Good-bye.
Have a nice day. Good-bye.
Papers in hand, Mr. Beyer. Monday, sir.
KING: Professor Nash?
Can you see him?
Yeah. You sure?
Positive? He's within your vision? Good. (CHUCKLING)
Forgive me, I'm just always suspicious of new people.
See you next week, Professor. See you next week.
So now that I know that you're real,
who are you, and what can I do for you?
Professor, my name is Thomas King.
Thomas King? Mmm-hmm.
And I'm here to tell you that you're being considered for the Nobel Prize.
Forgive me, but I'm just a little stunned.
Over the past few years, your equilibrium has become a cornerstone
of modern economics.
Suddenly, everybody likes that one.
What about my work on other some such projects, like manifold embedding?
The application of your bargaining problem
to FCC bandwidth auctions or to antitrust cases...
Antitrust cases? Yes.
I never would have considered that.
Have I just reached some level of honesty that borders on stupidity?
(LAUGHING) No, you haven't.
Because I wouldn't have thought of that.
Shall we have tea?
I don't go in there. I usually just take my sandwich in the library.
Come on, John. Let's have some tea. It's a big day.
Most commercially available brands of tea
are not suitable to my palate, you see.
I'm not...
There are some Northern Indian teas which are dense enough.
I enjoy the flavor that they have.
I have not been in this room for quite some many years.
I wonder what tea they serve.
Why, thank you, young lady.
Things have certainly changed around here. I have a son that age.
Harvard.
(CHUCKLES)
(SNIFFING)
Hmm.
I would have thought
the nominations for the Nobel Prize would've been secret.
I would have thought you'd only find out if you won or lost.
That is generally the case, yes,
but these are special circumstances.
The awards are substantial.
They require private funding. As such,
the image of the Nobel is...
Oh, I see. So, you came here to find out if I was crazy?
Find out if I would screw everything up if I actually won?
Dance around the podium, strip naked and squawk like a chicken,
things of this nature? (CHUCKLING)
Something like that, yes.
Would I embarrass you?
Yes, it is possible.
You see, I am crazy.
I take the newer medications,
but I still see things that are not here.
I just choose not to acknowledge them.
Like a diet of the mind, I choose not to indulge certain appetites.
Like my appetite for patterns.
Perhaps my appetite to imagine and to dream.
MAN: Professor Nash.
It's good to have you here, John.
Thank you.
It's an honor, sir.
Thank you very much.
A privilege, Professor.
Professor.
Nicely done, John.
Thank you, Tom.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ed.
That was certainly most unexpected.
JOHN: Thank you.
I've always believed in numbers,
in the equations and logics that lead to reason.
But after a lifetime of such pursuits, I ask, what truly is logic?
Who decides reason?
My quest has taken me through the physical, the metaphysical,
the delusionaI and back.
And I have made the most important discovery of my career.
The most important discovery of my life.
It is only in the mysterious equations of love
that any logical reasons can be found.
I'm only here tonight because of you.
You are the reason I am.
You are all my reasons.
Thank you.
JOHN: So nice to have met you.
I'll call for the car, Dad.
Bye-bye. WOMAN: Bye-bye.
Are you ready to go now?
Yes, I am.
Yes, indeed, and yes, please.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
What is it? What's wrong?
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Come with me, young lady.
I have a car outside. Are you interested in a ride?
Where's it going to?