Proof

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anthony Hopkins, Hope Davis
Directed by: John Madden
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2005

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow) of a recently deceased genius mathamatican (Anthony Hopkins) works with a student (Jake Gyllenhaal) to go over the formulas her father worked on before he died.

Review:

Tim: I was simultaneously entertained and disappointed at various points throughout this movie. There was a series of highs and lows. Some scenes seemed amazing, like the movie was really going to take us someplace. Others seemed to grind the movie to a halt and made me wondeful what I was doing watching this.

Gwyneth Paltrow gives a disturbing, but very good performance. She teeters between genius and madness wonderfully. At times, you really like her. At others, she is almost frightening as she begins to lose her mind. Jake Gyllenhaal is very good. The more I see of him, the more I like. He is excellent here. He and Paltrow also act very well together. They have good chemistry, in an odd sort of way. Anthony Hopkins adds in a very small but good performance. On star power alone, the movie is at least worth seeing.

The plot is interesting, but seems to unravel as the movie goes on. What seems intriguing turns to absurd, and then back to intriguing again. The end result is a movie that offers glimpses of brilliance, but ultimately disappoints. It is a decent movie, but also a strange, odd movie. While it might be interesting for a while, it is filled with too many flaws.

I like the plot behind Proof, and the cast is all perfectly in position. However, the movie's strengths are simultaneously weighed down by its weaknesses. The net result is a decent movie, but one that should have been better, and is the kind of film you see once, and then never again. Despite the great cast, this is a bit of a mess, and I just can't wholly recommend it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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