Proof by John Madden - Essay Example

The proof is a movie based on a play by David Auburn that received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. Proof deals with the story of a girl Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) trying to come to terms with the death of her father Robert(Anthony Hopkins), who had once been a brilliant mathematician, but later on, succumbs to insanity. While doing so, the daughter comes across her own long-repressed anxieties and fears. Under such circumstances, she seeks solace in one of her father’s ex-student Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is searching through her father’s papers and notebooks to find something brilliant and new. The situation is further complicated by Catherine’s successful and bossy sister Claire (Hope Davis).
Still, there are many meaningful scenes in the story that bring out the darkly comical mindset of the characters.
Overall Proof failed to achieve that depth and meaning on the screen, that it successfully approached in its stage version. Read More