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It is the day before the funeral of Robert (Anthony Hopkins), a great and well respected mathematician in the faculty of the
University of Chicago. He has transformed the field with his achievement before he was 27 but was afflicted with dementia soon after.
In the last five years of his life, his daughter Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow), a brilliant mathematician herself, quits her studies at Northwestern University to take care of her father and she practically gives up her social life, too. Catherine's sister Claire (Hope Davies) flies in from New York to attend the funeral and to take Catherine with her to New York where Claire says she can take care of her sister. Meanwhile, Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal), Robert's former student and now a professor, goes over the many notebooks of Robert with hopes of finding, amidst all the gibberish, something important or a mathematician "proof" that Robert may have written in his lucid moments. Catherine, at first distrustful of Hal, later helps him find the "proof" that would expand the boundaries of science although in love with Catherine. Hal thinks it's Robert's work but Catherine claims it as hers, done in the last five years. Hal doubts this is well as Claire who thinks Catherine with her erratic behavior is losing her mind. Can Catherine prove it is her work? Or is she claiming her father's work and going mad?
Well crafted and stirring, Proof
is a masterpiece. It may invite comparison with A Beautiful Mind because of its subject matter and its predilection for mathematics, but Proof
is not about the elder savant. It is the daughter Catherine's story. Catherine's character is complex, moved by conflicting desires. Gwyneth Paltrow's excellent performance realistically gives life to the nuances of Catherine's character. Paltrow already has an Oscar but she outdoes herself this time. In this film, Director John Madden and Paltrow reprise the successful partnership they had in Shakespeare in Love. Anthony Hopkins, as usual, is impeccable. Davis and Gayllenhaal also give impressive performances. Based on the award-winning Broadway and London play by David Auburn, Auburn's and Rebecca Miller's screenplay has smart dialogue. For instance, listen to how the characters talk about math. We may not understand math but we are fascinated. The movie captures the ambiance of academic life. Most of the film is done in flashback but good editing enables us to follow the flow of the story.
Proof brings up issues like intellectual property and uses the language of the academe, but it is also a story that has a lot of heart. Touching is Catherine's love and concern for her father that she is willing to quit and forego her studies to take care of him at a time when everyone seems to have forgotten him, only to remember his greatness at his funeral. This was a big sacrifice for her because she had ambitions of her own, being highly intellectually endowed also like her father. Touching also is Hal's concern for Catherine, his trying to understand her erratic moods and behavior which may have been due to grief or to her own eccentricities. Patiently, he tries to draw her out of her shell, reiterates his belief that nothing is wrong with her and thereby helps dissipate her self doubt. He helps Catherine find herself again after her traumatic experiences. And probably we may take a cue from him. Some people are like Catherine, gifted but troubled, confused and a bit eccentric. Probably, by the way we show our compassion and understanding for them they may find their way clearly in life and realize their God given potentials.
(Date Reviewed: 03 February 2006)
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