Proof (2005)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

John Madden

Writers (WGA):

David Auburn (play)
David Auburn (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 September 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play by David Auburn

Plot:

The daughter of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician, recently deceased, tries to come to grips with her possible inheritance: his insanity. Complicating matters are one of her father's ex-students who wants to search through his papers and her estranged sister who shows up to help settle his affairs.

Plot Keywords:

Mathematician | Notebook | University | Mathematics | Math

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Catherine
Anthony Hopkins	...	Robert
Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Hal
Danny McCarthy	...	Cop
Hope Davis	...	Claire
Tobiasz Daszkiewicz	...	Limo Driver (as Tobiacz Daszkiewicz)
Gary Houston	...	Professor Barrow
Anne Wittman	...	Friend at Party
Leigh Zimmerman	...	Friend at Party
Colin Stinton	...	Theoretical Physicist
Leland Burnett	...	Band Vocalist
John Keefe	...	University Friend
Chipo Chung	...	University Friend
C. Gerod Harris	...	University Friend (as C Gerod Harris)
Roshan Seth	...	Professor Bhandari

Also Known As:

{proof} (International: English title) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content, language and drug references.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12A | Ireland:15A | Netherlands:AL | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-11 | Czech Republic:12 | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13 | Hungary:16 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Germany:6 | South Korea:12 | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

All the dialogue is written in iambic pentameter.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the argument between the three main characters, Catherine crumples the notebook trying to tear out some pages. Yet in the final scene, when Catherine goes through the proof explaining it to Hal the notebook looks just like new.

Quotes:

Catherine: It is thirty degrees outside, in the middle of the night. Are you cold?
Robert: Of course, I am freezing my ass off

Movie Connections:

Features "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (2003)

Soundtrack:

String Quartet No.4 in C, K.157 (cde84431)

X * Y = Z. No Mathematical Proof, but a Proof nonetheless.

GWYNETH, GWYNETH, GWYNETH! Not having been overly impressed with any of her previous performances, in Proof, Gwyneth Paltrow brings a highly emotional, nuanced, and so finely-tuned performance, I must say this movie this movie a stand-out.

She inhabits her character so fully, I was pulled in and so completely entranced the entire time. In fact, certain words or phrases are reused and have an uncanny allusion to when they were previously said. The effect as that you experience and follow the moments, and the thoughts of the characters, even though they are so deeply imbedded within. I credit Gwyneth and the director with making this work so well. I've never experienced such an organic link between phrases separated in time in a movie before. Wow!

This is a movie about how a daughter, her sister, and a grad student deal with the passing of a great mathematician. While there may be similarities with 'A Beautiful Mind' and even 'Good Will Hunting', knowing there are any such links didn't help me with this movie and I think actually does a dis-service. This movie stands on its own. Ignore any such comparisons.

Acting-wise, there were strong performances all around with Anthony Hopkins giving a top-notch performance. Jake Gyllenhaal's was strong, but perhaps not to the level of his rather awesome performance in Brokeback Mountain.

Good things aside, the one thing that irked me about this film, was that given the strong link to mathematics, how unbelievable some of the dialogue was regarding the 'math. While Gwyneth's and Hopkins' characters pulled off a sense of mathematical intelligence, Jake's character hardly said anything mathematically competent and even came across as flustered in expressing himself mathematically leaving me feeling cheated. In my view, this is chiefly the fault of the screenplay but to a lesser extent in the actor's portrayal. Ignore this rather small point, and this movie passes with flying colours. Q.E.D.