Proof

T and I saw John Madden's film version of David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play Proof last night ... and I was mesmerized from start to finish. It isn't often that a film grabs me with such force and doesn't let go until the credits roll, but Proof did just that. I'm not even sure how to begin discussing it, because it affected me on myriad levels. It was cathartic, suffocating, exhilirating, captivating, and an excellent celebration of the brilliant madness of genius.

Gwyneth Paltrow was, to me, a revelation. I've always enjoyed her work ... am a big fan of Shakespeare in Love, Emma, and even Sliding Doors, and she's always been solid, reliable, and steadfast. Here, though, she transforms the stuffy, uptight, and mannered screen persona we're so used to seeing into a schlubby, scattered, unstable American mess. Her Catherine isn't the typical movie heroine who smiles through her sacrifices ... no, this woman is downright pissed off that she's had to sacrifice so much of her life to take care of her ailing father. She's pissed that her life has been put on hold. She's pissed that her father was revered and respected in almost elegaic ways while teaching, but his colleagues and students have all but forgotten him as he desecends into his madness. She's pissed that her sister has escaped the life, only to reappear and try to "make things right" when it's clearly, obviously, and sadly way too late. Catherine is atypical, too, in that she lets herself wallow in depression and uncertainty, allows her grief to cement its grasp around her spirit. Paltrow gives, in my opinion, the performance of her career ... and I can only hope Oscar voters at least remember to nominate her. This is absolutely the kind of role that wins Tonys ... but Oscar (at least lately) tends to like "showier" roles. The quiet desperation of Catherine is likely to get lost in the shuffle. Paltrow -- and this film -- deserves better.

The film's dance around the topic of mental illness was especially powerful for me, because there's a touch of it in my own family. I love movies that make their viewers think and ponder. On the drive home, Tony and I had some very spirited intellectual discussions, and I was so happy that art had, yet again, inspired me to use my brain ... and it had inspired me to look inward and consider my own idiosyncrasies. God I love good film ... good ART. YAY!