Proof (2005)

63% of critics liked it
(139 reviews)
56% of users liked it
(86,883 ratings)

A woman struggles to come to terms with the potentially dangerous legacy of her late father in this drama based on the award-winning stage play by David Auburn. Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a woman in her late twenties who is strongly devoted to her father, Robert (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant… More A woman struggles to come to terms with the potentially dangerous legacy of her late father in this drama based on the award-winning stage play by David Auburn. Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a woman in her late twenties who is strongly devoted to her father, Robert (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant and well-known mathematician. While Robert's skill in the world of numbers still appears to be strong, his grip on reality begins to slip away, and as Robert descends into madness, Catherine begins to wonder if she may have inherited her father's mental illness along with his mathematical genius. After Robert's passing, Catherine is confronted by Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal), a gifted but zealous student of Robert's who wants to look through the late man's notes in hopes of finding his last great work. While Catherine is hesitant to look too deeply into her father's work for fear of what it might suggest about her own future, she allows Hal to do so, and when one notebook reveals a mathematical proof of potentially historic proportions, it sets off shock waves in more ways than one. Proof also stars Hope Davis as Catherine's well-meaning but shallow sister, who doubts Catherine's ability to take care of herself. Paltrow had previously played Catherine to stellar reviews during the original play's run in London's West End. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed By: John Madden
Written By: David Auburn, Rebecca Miller
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Sep 16, 2005 Limited
On DVD: Feb 14, 2006
Studio: Miramax Films

Critic Reviews

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic
Madden does a competent job transferring the film from stage to screen.
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle
Few movies regard the psyche with such sober discernment.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
The result, like so many stout travellers from stage to screen, is respectable. Stolidly, bloodlessly, yawningly respectable.
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
Once you get past that golden swag and curtain of hair, Paltrow's performance is devastating, cutting to the pith and marrow of parent-child relations.
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Miscast yet marvelous, Paltrow and the rest of the cast hold you to the movie, even when you intuitively sense something is lacking.
Nelson Pressley, Washington Post
Paltrow is pretty commanding, even if Madden pushes things toward airlessness by keeping the camera so tight. The anguish on that lovely, haggard face -- you're right there with her, yearning for the moment you both can finally breathe.
Joshua Starnes, ComingSoon.net
Proof is a smart film, but it tries too hard. It wears its heart on its sleeve, and the pathos becomes a bit much because there is little to balance it out.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Timid staging faithful adaptation = no cinema
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Sometimes insightful, sometimes banal. For teens and up.
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film
offers a convincing demonstration of the theorem that good writing and sensitive performances can equal an engaging and nuanced piece of cinema.
Scott Tobias, AV Club
Madden stages the action with a minimum of imagination and gets a career-worst performance out of Davis in a key role, but the material still sputters to life on the strength of the writing and Paltrow's commitment to the part.
Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
full review in Greek
Peter T. Chattaway, Christianity Today
As a story about personal and family dysfunction, and about coming to terms with life's uncertainties, Proof isn't bad.
Anna Smith, Empire Magazine
A subtle, slow-burning mystery that does justice to its themes of identity, sanity and sacrifice.
Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald
An elegant adaptation to the screen, with the play's qualities largely intact and great performances from Paltrow and Hope Davis, as her sister. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anthony Hopkins complete a dream cast.
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
Proof is something of a puzzle, an all-star drama that has the feel of a Sunday afternoon film. Think curiosity, not must see.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
Intense and compelling, Proof is an absorbing film that shows the intricacies of the human mind are as complex as a mathematical equation.

Read all 17 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jennifer X

I cried when Jake Gyllenhaal didn't believe that Gwyneth Paltrow wrote the proof. So sue me. It was sad. I love that you don't know where this movie is going until it gets there. I turned cold when Gwyneth Paltrow read out Anthony Hopkins'… More
I cried when Jake Gyllenhaal didn't believe that Gwyneth Paltrow wrote the proof. So sue me. It was sad. I love that you don't know where this movie is going until it gets there. I turned cold when Gwyneth Paltrow read out Anthony Hopkins' "proof."
Jay H

This film has so much going for it. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the lead role, Anthony Hopkins is a minor, but important, supporting character, and the premise has tons of potential. This film wants so bad to be "A Beautiful Mind", but it has some serious problems with the… More
This film has so much going for it. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the lead role, Anthony Hopkins is a minor, but important, supporting character, and the premise has tons of potential. This film wants so bad to be "A Beautiful Mind", but it has some serious problems with the direction its plot moves. Everything about the story begs for less Jake Gyllenhaal, who wasn't bad, and Hope Davis, who was awful every time she was on screen. Their characters are given far too much focus. Paltrow's character, the ostensibly interesting, complex protagonist, is still a mystery to the viewer by the end of the film. The story begs to go in one direction but the plot strays away. It's not a *bad* film, but it's certainly not a good one. I didn't love "A Beautful Mind", but at least that film had a good idea of how this type of story needs to be told.
Sophie B

I can see what it tried to do, it just didn't do it well. It wasn't in depth enough and the drama about who wrote the Proof wasn't dramatic enough. Good performances, just a poor script.
Dean M

This film was good and it's about death, love, and mental incapacity. This is a bit familiar of the story I have seen on screen before in such fine film as A Beautiful Mind. Gwyneth Paltrow is spectacular in her gut-wrenching, emotional roller coaster of a… More
This film was good and it's about death, love, and mental incapacity. This is a bit familiar of the story I have seen on screen before in such fine film as A Beautiful Mind. Gwyneth Paltrow is spectacular in her gut-wrenching, emotional roller coaster of a role. The assembled supporting cast is impressive in name; however, Sir Anthony Hopkins is solid, but not great in the relatively small, but crucial role as Paltrow's once genius, then insane, now dead father. His influence on her life is beyond question and how she deals is the heart of the story. Jake Gyllenhaal, although a fine actor, is totally miscast as Hopkins' former student who tries to secure the legacy. Hope Davis is perfect as the irritating sister of Paltrow who has "been working 14 hour days" for 5 years while Paltrow cared for dear old nutty dad.
Chris W

I'm not a math person, and, even though there's lots of math in this film, and it's about math people, it's not really "about" math, get it? It's about academics, and the weight of genius. Those are things I get. Both broad topics in this film have… More
I'm not a math person, and, even though there's lots of math in this film, and it's about math people, it's not really "about" math, get it? It's about academics, and the weight of genius. Those are things I get. Both broad topics in this film have previously been seen in A Beautiful Mind. This movie is not a retread of that. It is similar, but altogether different. I really liked this. Some of the specifics went over my head, but one can know nothing about math and still get this movie and be entertained or moved by it. This is a lot better than I expected, and I liked it more than I thought I would. This is a small-character dirven piece (based on a four character play) that's mostly light on plot. but I love this kind of stuff. The material and the acting are what really carry things. They basically have to. There's nothing really cinematic going on ehre, but that's okay. It's been slightly expanded, and there are a few cinematic type flousihes here and there, but this is all about the characters. The acting is brilliant. Aside from The Royal Tenenbaums, I really didn't have much to say about Paltrow. I knew she was a good actress, but this confirms that she's really great. She's great at playing a tortured withdrawn person who's hopelessly isolated from the world in ultiple ways. I didn't really like the character played by Hope Davis, but she's also great. All of the perforers are. Given that this is about kooky academics, it reminded me of that other siilart film which featured Gyllenhaal's doppleganger Tobey Maguire (Wonder Boys). He's getting really good at these types of roles. Anthony Hopkins has played crazy before, but not like this. Give this one a chance. It's not something I would watch all the time, but I wouldn't mind seeing it every once in a while.
♥˩ƳИИ &

Anne Wittman, Anthony Hopkins, Colin Stinton A devoted daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow) comes to terms with the death of her father (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant mathematician whose genius was crippled by mental instability. Along the way, she's forced to face her own dark fears.… More
Anne Wittman, Anthony Hopkins, Colin Stinton A devoted daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow) comes to terms with the death of her father (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant mathematician whose genius was crippled by mental instability. Along the way, she's forced to face her own dark fears. But she has help from one of her father's former students (Jake Gyllenhaal), who searches through the dead man's notebooks in hopes of discovering the key to his brilliance. . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pretty good movie. Don't think it is for a lot of people though. I enjoyed it. Liked the story of the bond between the daughter and father. It's a hard movie to follow. If your not paying close attention you will be lost. Anthony Hopkins gives another great performance. But there isn't a role this man can't fulfill. Really surprised by Gwyneth Paltrow. Her character was kinda dark, and I thought she pulled it off amazingly. It's a very intense movie. She questions her sanity because she has inherited so much of who her father is, that she is scared that his illness is something else she will inherit, if not already. The movie keeps you wondering the same thing til the end. It wasn't a "must see" film for me. But my curiosity got the best of me. It is hard for me to pass up any movie, not judge it til I have seen it for myself. So I am glad I didn't pass this one up.
Red L

I enjoyed this movie. The brilliance in the proof is somewhat obscure, but I can feel the possibilities. It would be difficult to come to grips with the probability that you have inherited both the brilliance and the craziness of your father. I just watched part of it again and… More
I enjoyed this movie. The brilliance in the proof is somewhat obscure, but I can feel the possibilities. It would be difficult to come to grips with the probability that you have inherited both the brilliance and the craziness of your father. I just watched part of it again and noticed how much I liked the music -- it really drives the moods of the movie.
Ginny

Quoted: The movie is a kind of slow drama that is heart wrenching. The main character is the daughter of a brilliant mathematician. He went crazy at about her age. For the last five years she's been taking care of him when no one else will, giving up her dreams to do it. A… More
Quoted: The movie is a kind of slow drama that is heart wrenching. The main character is the daughter of a brilliant mathematician. He went crazy at about her age. For the last five years she's been taking care of him when no one else will, giving up her dreams to do it. A week before the movie starts, he died. He has over a hundred notebooks that he wrote basically nonsense in during the last five years. His grad student is going through them. The main character's mothering sister is coming out for the funeral. The main character, Catherine, has to deal with the loss of her father, the possibility she too will go crazy, and with the people in the house she's lived in for most of her life. She's brilliant, also. Will she, too, go crazy? Is she crazy now?
Wildaly M

When I rented the movie I thought it was something more than what I got but it wasn't bad. Nothing noteworthy though. And I must admit that Gyllenhaal would never seem like a mathematician to me but the romantic interest between him and Paltrow was... well.. interesting.
danny d

decent flick
Leigh R

Fantastic thinker film. Brilliant beyond belief... You don't even have to be a rocket scientist to understand the mathmatics that are spoke of and yet you get involved in the storyline that it wouldn't matter anyway. Highly recommend.
Sanjaya &

The story is confused me out, but I find it was an interesting movie....
Jeffrey M

A powerful film that has great authenticity in its' examination of family dynamics. Gwyneth Paltrow amazed me with depth I didn't think she had.
Nicolas K

Pity to see a Pulitzer winning novel and some class act actors ending up in a film that is scatty and unimaginative in direction.
Mike T

A blatantly dislikable protagonist almost drags down this formulaic but interesting drama. A great cast and perceptive subject matter keep it afloat.
Juli R

Gwyneth Paltrow is stunning in this role. She plays a daughter who is living in the shadow of her brilliant but mad father. She is motivated by conflicting desires. She has the ability to change her life, but she can't make herself do it. It doesn't add to or detract from… More
Gwyneth Paltrow is stunning in this role. She plays a daughter who is living in the shadow of her brilliant but mad father. She is motivated by conflicting desires. She has the ability to change her life, but she can't make herself do it. It doesn't add to or detract from the film, but the Chicago locations are true to life. The trip from Evanston to the UofC is the way you actually go. It was a shock to find out most of the interiors were shot in London. They blend into Chicago perfectly.
Linda K

Quite a disappointment despite its good cast!
Sunil J

Everyone is amazing in this movie and I don't even like math!
Laurence C

A richly written, elegant and somewhat inspiring adaptation of David Auburn's Pulitzer-winning play, Proof loses points for not being able to deliver its message with enough punch by the time it's over.
Richard F

Let's start with the positives: great story, directing, and editing. The idea is fresh and original, and the non-linearity works perfectly. Anthony Hopkins is spot-on and masterful, as usual, and Jake Gyllenhaal nails the part. Also, the math theory and references are accurate as… More
Let's start with the positives: great story, directing, and editing. The idea is fresh and original, and the non-linearity works perfectly. Anthony Hopkins is spot-on and masterful, as usual, and Jake Gyllenhaal nails the part. Also, the math theory and references are accurate as well as the grad school setting. The problem with this film is that it seemed as if the screenplay was written by a mathematician rather than a screen writer. Catherine (played by Gweneth Paltrow) is one of the most dislikable "protagonist" characters in recent memory. The dialogue is uncreative and Paltrow's performance is hit and miss. Albeit Catherine struggles with mental illness but her character could still be likeable (eg John Nash in "A Beautiful Mind"). It seemed as if she was either yelling, whining, pouting, or crying in just about every scene. For someone as logical as she is, which one must be to be successful at math, she seemed to pull off being irrational pretty consistently. This is unnecessary as her father (played by Anthony Hopkins) who suffered from the same condition but at a much more severe level , demonstrates none of this childlike behavior and manages to give a very moving performance. Overall, a good movie with a very annoying main character.