This film is about death, love, and mental incapacity. There are bound to be endless clichés, comparisons, and parallels drawn with Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind", so I won't go there.

In the end, this film is all about Gwyneth Paltrow.

She is on screen at least 80% of this film. Her character dances between mourning, anger, remorse, confusion, fear, vulnerability, sadness, and just a little bit of love. There are very dramatic changes in emotion from moment to moment, and Paltrow pulls it off brilliantly.

Sir Anthony Hopkins role, while relatively small, is crucial to the film. His performance was good, but not great. But it didn't really matter, as Proof is all about Paltrow. Hope Davis and Jake Gyllenhaal also gave solid performances, but their as with Hopkin's role were really nothing more than support Paltrow.

The biggest disappointment for me was the almost total lack of any 'real' mathematics. For a film that revolves around brilliant mathematical proofs, there's an almost painful scarcity of and real math in the film. There are shots of seemingly random equations scrawled across paper or a blackboard, and the odd conversation making reference to some known mathematical law or theorem, but I would have liked more.

IF you want a happy film, go see something else. If you want a mindless film, go see something else. If you want a typical love story, go see something else. If you want an intelligent well written and presented story of substance involving a a character experiencing a roller-coaster of emotions, Proof may be for you.

Reading through the reviews of 'Proof', it seems most of the better reviews are from 2006 or earlier. Maybe its taking this long for the movie-going public as well as Hollywood casting agents to realize how mediocre Ms Palthrow is. Gwen isn't terrible is this role, she's just average, while the role calls for a better actress. I certain many were available.

With what we now know about what occurred on the casting couch at Miramax, it begs the question, what did Gwennie have to do to get this role?

Aside from, that, the premise of the film is just silly. Are we really to believe the most advanced mathematicians on the planet look like Gwyneth Palthrow or Jake Gyllenhaal? Its a lot like 'Good Will Hunting', its a laughable premise.

I give this 2 stars because of the fine performances (as usual) for Hope Davis and Anthony Hopkins. Their talents were wasted on this stinker.

Big day for race fans kids! Gwenneth has to figure out how to act like a genius that is humble, absolutely gorgeous but not worthy of any praise, kinda like downplaying how stunning beautiful you are on screen and be coquetish, clueless and alarmingly charming. Do you need an advanced degree in Physics or Chemistry to appreciate the spectacular fireworks that unfold in the genius that is Anthony Hopkins? No sirree, all you have to do is suspend your belief that true brilliance is an aberration fraught with instability, self adulation and insanity and you're halfway home. Hard to keep count of all the hotties in the Math department, well maybe the Computer Science geeks could eek out a dashing formidable run for the money?

Those of us who crave real conversation and a spark of life among the shadows will once again fall into despair believing no one in Hollywood will ever serve to educate, inspire, let alone entertain those whoe have a titch more than a room temp IQ. But for those of us who comprehend that Math is theee language of love will continue to foray for those minute details, subtle hints and secret code words to elucidate a modicum of spark, ignition and fire! I look forward to the stage play that hones it all in for our conspicous consumption and well deserved applause. I could barely finish this film it was too cooked, brittle, albeit more of a showcase for known talent. And who deals with Differential Equation concepts in Grad School, sheesh that's thrid grade material!