Proof - Gwyneth Paltrow Sums It Up

I hated math. No, that’s not quite right. I was good at it, but it just never intrigued me. I didn’t get the fascination with complex abstract number concepts. But I’ve always been terribly impressed by people who not only like it, but have the sort of minds that play with numbers like toys, stringing together hypotheticals and formulae for the sheer excitement of numerical discovery. Catherine Llewelyn is one of those people, as was her father. Unfortunately, that may not be the only thing they share in the 2005 John Madden film Proof.

The film opens as Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) is startled by her father Robert (Anthony Hopkins). Apparently it is Catherine’s birthday, and her father has a bottle of champagne chilling for the occasion. As she drinks – directly from the bottle – they discuss her life, her aptitudes, her mental health. This last will be of utmost importance as, you see, her father is dead.

Robert was a man revered in the academic world. A brilliant mathematician and teacher, his accomplishments were vast, until mental illness robbed him of his gift. He spent his last years being cared for by Catherine, a very different man than the one who stunned the academic world at the tender age of 22. Now attention turns to Catherine. Once planning to follow in her father’s footsteps, she has been isolated for the past five years; caring for a man she loved who was deteriorating before her eyes. Now she is awkward, skittish, bitter and utterly devastated by his death.

The film plays out with Catherine coming to terms with the death of her father, the interference of her sister (Hope Davis) and the persistent presence of one of her father’s former students (Jake Gyllenhaal). As well as the occasional visit from Robert the ghost.

To be blunt, this is an uneven film. There are places where it’s slow, places where it’s supposed to be funny buy only manages a cringe and a wince, places where the subplots are underdeveloped. Yet there is also one shining constant – the wonderful, riveting performance of Gwyneth Paltrow. She takes this character, this wounded, suffering girl, and gives her depth, complexity and an aura of desperate fragility. She looks plain awful in most of her scenes – no diva posing here. She looks grief-stricken. She looks unsure of herself. Each scene shows us a little more of Catherine. We go from fearing that she will simply break into pieces to marveling at her strength as we learn of her years of stoic patience and sacrifice.

The subplot that works best is that of Catherine’s relationship with her sister Claire. We get a glimpse of a guilt-ridden woman in Claire. She was not there when Catherine really needed her, now she’s a suffocating presence, pushing herself and her will onto a very vulnerable Catherine. Hope Davis is fabulous in the role. This character is really quite awful and Davis lets that ooze out continuously. We don’t like her. We aren’t supposed to like her. But we also aren’t so sure that she’s wrong. That’s the beauty – sometimes the mean and cruel one is actually the one with the answers. Or not.

The subplot that really doesn’t work is that of the relationship between Catherine and the student Hal (Gyllenhaal). He’s our link to the academic world of Robert, and the relationship supporting that link feels weak and more than a bit contrived. Catherine’s actions with Hal don’t quite fit with the rest of her terrifically developed character. Gyllenhaal is as adorable and charming as ever, but we need more time with these two – as it is, their story rings more than a bit false and convenient.

We also have Anthony Hopkins as Robert. This isn’t a big part, it’s all in memory and flashback. But he strikes a nice chord with his portrayal of a parent becoming a dependent. The characters are all, with the exception of Hal, beautifully drawn, making this a good character driven story. Unfortunately it isn’t put together with quite enough edge, losing momentum in places and overplaying the forces pushing against Catherine in others. Director Madden loses his way on occasion, leaving us with a movie not quite worthy of its characters and performances. I do have to give him quite a bit of credit for making a film revolving around math that doesn’t get lost in that murky world. He tends to keep the film character bound, much to my math-hating relief. Despite its drawbacks, these are characters worth knowing, and as such, Proof is worth seeing. Especially for fans of Paltrow or Davis. Go in with the expectation of caring enough about Catherine that the production flaws don’t matter and you’ll be rewarded by a fine piece of characterization and some terrific performances. You don’t even have to like math.