Behind Blue Eyes

Oh. My. Goodness.

I just got back from seeing Proof with Dan from my office, and I was quickly reminded of why I love Jake Gyllenhaal so much. I did enjoy his performance--with the exception of one particular line that was also in the preview ("Sure it does.")--and found him to be quite natural, but (I've got to be honest here), it's those eyes and that smile that get me every time. Wow. What I long for in life is for someone to look at me the way he looked at Gwyneth Paltrow's character in this film.

She disappointed me, sadly. I love her and her work, and I even wanted to be her when I was younger, when she was engaged to Brad Pitt, starring in Emma, and attending the same staged reading at the Williamstown Theater Festival that I was wearing leopard-print pants and a black turtleneck sweater. For me, she usually can do no wrong. (I didn't even find fault with the name "Apple.") Proof changed all this. I can understand what she was trying to do with her character, but I personally don't think it was effective. One thing I can say, though, is that for the first time I have a really solid impression of just why my father was right that the really good actors can listen well. I don't know if Gwyneth was directed to "react" to what was going on around her, but it was quite distracting and very unnatural.

Overall, I really did enjoy the film, and I'm sure it'll be on my Amazon wishlist in no time.