Proof (2005)
Directed by John Madden
Catherine is a woman in her late twenties who is strongly devoted to her father, Robert, a brilliant and well-known mathematician whose grip on reality is beginning to slip away. As Robert descends into madness, Catherine begins to wonder if she may have inherited her father's mental illness along with his mathematical genius.
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What critics compared Proof to
It would be natural to compare "Proof" with " A Beautiful Mind " (2001), another movie about a brilliant and mad mathematician.
"Proof," based on David Auburn’s wildly popular stage play, is a sensitive take on the same mathematical milieu and emotional terrain that Ron Howard traversed in the Academy Award-winning picture "A Beautiful Mind."
While the movie cannot escape comparisons to Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind, it doesn’t necessarily deserve to be paired with that superior picture.
With "Proof," the new Gwyneth Paltrow movie based on the award-winning play by David Auburn, we are once again back in "A Beautiful Mind" territory.
No, I'm not asking for a movie to teach us math, but even the similarly environed A Beautiful Mind attempted a visual math lesson, which at least meant the filmmakers tried to be considerate of their subject matter.
The Father should feel like something we’ve seen before, whether with Hopkins himself in 2005’s Proof, or 2006’s Away from Her, or 2001’s Iris.
Under the sure direction of Madden -- whose credits include "Shakespeare in Love," "Proof" and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" -- the entire cast ramps up their performances as well, including John Lithgow as the senator out to destroy Sloane, Jake Lacy as her country cornpone "escort," Michael Stuhlbarg as her fiercest enemy and Alison Pill as the one member of Sloane's team who opts to stay with the pro-gun lobby group.
Conventionally but skillfully directed by John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love,” “Proof”) from a screenplay by newcomer Jonathan Perera, the drama transpires in the cutthroat world of Washington, D.C., lobbying, where Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) is a force of intelligence and ruthlessness.
The film does however, allow Madden to indulge one of his most criticised directorial tics, where he focuses too much on the superficial, overly-stylised elements of the production (think his earlier work for Shakespeare in Love and Proof ).
Director John Madden, who also directed "Proof" and "Debt," reveals only as needed and still leaves questions.