Proof

Starring

Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hope Davis

Rated PG-13

            “Proof” is an excellent film adaptation of David Auburn’s play, and features great performances from Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. However, I saw the film in a Dallas art theater, where I expected to find a mature and attentive audience. Instead, I found four teenagers in the back row, giggling throughout the movie, and standing in front of the projection making distracting gestures. I expect this sort of behavior when going to the multiplex, where teenagers are expected to fool around. But at an art-house cinema? At an intellectual drama for adults? That’s pathetic.

            Anyway, Paltrow plays Catherine, the daughter of genius mathematician Robert (Hopkins) who has recently died. Her dad had been mentally unstable for years, and Catherine was the only family member strong enough to take care of him until his death. Now, as her uptight sister Claire (Hope Davis) comes to town to help with the funeral, Catherine begins to wonder if her she suffers from the same illness that took over her father, and becomes doubtful about her sanity.

Meanwhile, college student Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal), a pupil and great admirer of Robert’s, is sorting through the last known works of the man, and surprisingly finds a mathematical proof that could solve an age-old equation once thought impossible. The only question is, who wrote the proof – Catherine or Robert? “Proof” is a great movie that offers intelligent entertainment – not for an immature, fairly brainless teenage audience that would probably have more fun disrupting something like “The Fog” (gag.)

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