Proof

Adapted from the stage, Proof stars Gwyneth Paltrow in an emotionally intense performance as a daughter paralyzed by fear of slipping into the same insanity that gripped her faded math genius father (Anthony Hopkins) before his recent death. Just as gifted and prone to fantasy as Daddy (who remains a vivid posthumous presence in her life), Paltrow's character is psychologically torn when one of her father's students (Jake Gyllenhaal) becomes her lover and soon discovers a groundbreaking mathematical proof of mysterious origins among the incoherent ramblings dad left behind in hundreds of handwritten notebooks. The film gets a little convoluted while moving back and forth in time, and director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) is sometimes clumsy in breaking David Auburn's play (in which Paltrow also starred) out of its set-piece staging, but the characters here are rich (including Hope Davis as Paltrow's condescending, control-freak sister) and the plot twists that pit logic against passion are powerful. Although Proof cops out in the end with an I-don't-know-how-to-end-my-movie voiceover, it's an otherwise worthy thinking person's drama. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director John Madden, the 10-minute “making-of” featurette “From Stage to Screen,” three deleted scenes with optional commentary (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a smart drama.] (R. Blackwelder)