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In “Proof,” Catherine is a woman who doubts
her own sanity, after her dad dies. And when her sister Claire arrives
from out of town, her tension and doubts become much too apparent.
Claire doubts her sister’s sanity, and after the first twenty minutes
you will, too. One of the few highlights of “Proof” is Hope Davis as the
overbearing and often passive Claire who bickers incessantly with
Catherine in an attempt to bring her back from her depression and
lingering on their father. Davis and Paltrow’s chemistry is palpable,
and the moments worth remembering are the moments when Davis and Paltrow
share the screen with one another.
Madden’s film is based on the play of the
same name, and judging by the way the entire film is conducted, it’s not
hard to fathom. “Proof” conducts itself like a play. There are simple
and scarce set pieces, all of which are there to serve the actors who
stand around trading dialogue at rapid fire paces, screaming at the top
of their lungs. They think it’s dramatic, but often times it’s utterly
shrill. I was wondering often, if this was a film about a young woman
learning to move on from her father, or a young woman grasping with the
possibility of becoming mad like her father, because Madden can never
really decide which angle to play, thus it feels scatter brained, and
haphazard.
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“Proof” sadly ends up as “A
Beautiful Mind”-lite including the delusions, and I could
never relate to Paltrow’s character as much as I’d hoped,
because we never delve well enough into her tortured mind
and her inner-conflicts, we delve much too often into the
whiny introvert that I found difficulty sympathizing and
rooting for in the end.
Meanwhile, there’s always this
running around the topic of mathematics and the specifics
behind it, yet noticeably, there’s no real delving into it. |
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What
we expect would be the center of this little melodrama really ends
up being there just as window dressing painting it as more than a
simple drama about a girl who is sure she’s losing her mind.
We’re constantly given lingo that’s
simple enough to convince us they’re mathematicians, but they never
really get into specifics, even when referring to “The Proof,” which
really ends up as a giant McGuffin. Everyone wants “The Proof,” but
the writer can never explain what it actually is. The rest is pure
loud and droning melodrama with a cast of actors who yell for the
sake of yelling, to enrich the melodrama, and beam down on Paltrow
who struggles with her sanity, and moans about how much she loved
her father, played by Anthony Hopkins who is utterly under-used, and
downplayed.
In spite of the lovely Hope Davis picking up the slack, providing
interesting chemistry with Paltrow, "Proof" is basically a limp, and
utterly pointless melodrama that's never as intelligent as it thinks.
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