Proof

Getting together a talented cast (Gyllenhaal and the ageless Anthony Hopkins) to create such an insipid and boring movie... what a waste ! And to think that the scenario is adapted from a play, one doesn't want to imagine what it must be like. The script clearly lacks depth, there is not much going on with the characters who are dreadfully superficial and under-exploited. The lines are robotic, the actors are badly directed, the mise-en-scène is flat and the cheap pseudo intellectualism and melodramaticism oozing from this scenario are cringe-worthy. At the end you just feel you've been going in circles and lost 1h30 watching this completely uninteresting movie.

Catherine Llewellyn (Gwyneth Paltrow) is struggling to deal with the death of her genius math professor father Robert (Anthony Hopkins). He deteriorated mentally in his last years which forced her to quit school and take care of him. His former student Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal) is working through a mountain of Robert's incoherent notebooks to find anything worth saving. Catherine's sister Claire (Hope Davis) arrives for the funeral and seeks to bring Catherine back to New York for treatment. When Hal discovers a notebook filled with a ground-breaking math proof, Catherine claims it to be written by her. This is a compelling portrayal of the mathematical obsession. It's not as flashy or romantic as cinema tries to dress up math sometimes. It is a bit sad. Paltrow does great work following Hopkins. She shows that she's not simply a romantic lead. It's a compelling character study.

John Madden's drama about a daughter (Paltrow) of a brilliant mathematical mind(Hopkins) who is also losing his sanity in late age. The film does great to transition from present tense into flashbacks, the style of film-making is great, and the personal performances, strong writing and great score and cinematography make this picture an overall success. The strongest point of Madden's film, which I found in some ways a bit similar to ROn Howard's A Beautiful Mind is the fact that the lead questions their own sanity and the way they deal with it is brilliant. Paltrow is not my favorite actress, but she showed her talent here in one of her better performances while Hopkins was also good, my favorite performance came from Jake Gyllenhaal who is doing well to establish himself as a consistent young actor. he impresses here again as a master student studying professor Robert's(Hopkins) work. This is a great drama. IMDb rating: 7.0, my rating: 10/10

Gwyneth Paltrow gives a haunting portrayal of a daughter whose devotion to a mentally challenged father draws out her own mental edges. As care-giver for an elderly parent I am well aware of our fragile mental world and Paltrow's performance shines with nothing but truth. Her honesty and the emotional territory she portrayals are "proof" of her integrity as an actress. The film is impressively directed -- the script is paced compellingly and draws the viewer into a life situation that most of us simply refuse to acknowledge and try to avoid. Once the "great mind" of our genius is "gone" -- who are we? Hope Davis as Paltrow's sister does a great job of showing how striving for her "normalacy" is the ultimate lunacy. Great ensemble playing by all. I highly recommend this film.