A stunning adaptation of a Pulitzer Price winning play "Proof" by David Auburn, a tale of a brilliant daughter of a genius mathematician who succumbed to mental illness.

Catherine played by Gwyneth Paltrow, is a 27 year old mathematician. Her father Robert (Anthony Hopkins) is a world renowned professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago. But he was crippled by mental illness and Catherine had been taking care of him for the last five years. Her life got interrupted by her father's illness. She had to drop out of college but she still found time to solve complex mathematical equations.

After her father's death, Catherine had no idea about what to do next. Her sister Claire (Hope Davis) who lived in New York was not much help to Catherine. The tensions between the sisters reach a peak after Robert's death and Claire believes that Catherine is also inheriting the mental illness from her father and wanted her to move to New York where she can get better medical care. Catherine objected to all of  Claire's suggestions.

Catherine is haunted by the death of her father and she has a lot of conversations with him in her mind. In her heart of hearts, she is afraid that she is loosing her mental balance. She finds some comfort with Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal), a former student of Robert, now a teacher at the University Of Chicago but she didn't trust him all the way. Hal had been searching through dozens of Robert's notebooks, hoping to find data about some mathematical breakthrough. Catherine has a suspicion that Hal just wants to get into the limelight with Robert's discovery. But her opinion about Hal changes after she fell for Hal's romantic overtures and went to bed with him.

With the new found trust in Hal, Catherine talks to him about a notebook that contains some complex mathematical proof which she claims to be her own work. When Claire looks at the handwriting in the notebook, she comes to the conclusion that it is her father's work. Now Hal is in a dilemma and decided to take the book to the university for expert opinion. But way before the true finding, Catherine falls into deep depression and is forced to do everything according to her sister's wishes.

Director John Madden's adaptation of the drama 'Proof', is a very skillful presentation of mythical beliefs in the mathematical world. He deals with love, trust and family, and lightens up the drama by putting in a love story. He tactfully presents the emotional fragility between the father and daughter as well as between the sisters. The use of flashbacks and flash forwards keep the flow of the movie at a steady pace. His direction is focused, well presented as well as poignant and witty.

Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow as Catherine presents a stunning performance. She very well
portray the grief and sadness caused by the loss of her father and displays her deep love for him especially in the sequences, of her thoughts about him. She shows genuine feelings even when she is depressed and her shyness is overcome by her impetuousness. This is the best performance by her as a woman of contradictions. Definitely she puts up an Oscar worthy performance. Other members of the cast, Anthony Hopkins as Robert, Jake Gyllenhall as Hal and Hope Davis as Claire present wonderful supporting performances.

The movie is all about Catherine's love for her father which overwhelms her different moods as well as her madness and serenity. At certain points the film deals with some of the mythical beliefs about mathematics such as, it is a young man's profession and very few females have achieved great discoveries in mathematics. But the movie is emotionally vibrant and highly intellectual.

We rate this movie GOOD.