Orthodox direction but still good

I've never really felt the desire to watch this film as Ron Howard has a very textbook feel to the few films that I have seen of his and it does creep in at times, but not to the detriment of an orthodox Hollywood film. Russell Crowe got another Oscar nomination for this and it is deserved as he shines throughout, with solid support elsewhere, although I wasn't really getting the love between the two leads that obviously plays a very big part of the story and it loses a bit because of it. That said, the portrayal of the mental health of Crowe's character I found to be riveting and although I couldn't even begin to suggest whether it's accurate or not, it was very interesting and the strongest part of the film. Another pleasant surprise.