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| Warbeck |
Proof: (Stephen Warbeck) While it is very tempting
to compare
Proof, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by
David Auburn, to Ron Howard's
A Beautiful Mind from four years
ago, the two films differ in that
A Beautiful Mind was about a
crazy mathematician whereas
Proof is about the daughter of a
crazy mathematician. Both films reflect the tortured tales of how the
madness of the mathematician affects the family around him, and both
handle dementia in an extremely intelligent fashion. Launched from its
success on stage,
Proof received some worthy critical responses
on film, although many have said that some of the theatrical flare has
been lost in the film version. Director John Madden has experienced
success before, and it was his teaming with Gwyneth Paltrow and composer
Stephen Warbeck that assisted his success with
Shakespeare in
Love, including some controversial Academy Awards. The comfortable
relationship between director and composer has led to a score for
Proof that serves as an interesting combination of
Shakespeare
in Love and
A Beautiful Mind in its thematic structure. For
A Beautiful Mind, James Horner adapted an almost maddening, but
sharp rhythmic progression that he had used in several other scores and
refined it to its most beautiful and dense form for moments when the
mathematician's mind was calculating at full speed. Warbeck doesn't have
the Hornerisms to work with, nor does he have the voice of a rising,
young opera star to grace the cover of the soundtrack, but he perhaps
confirms that Horner's theme for
A Beautiful Mind may have
established the permanent standard by which all themes for future insane
mathematicians on the screen should be crafted. The technique,
interestingly, works once again, and is this time tempered by some of
the softer strings of Warbeck's usual variety and a touch of minimalism
for much of the score for
Proof.
The most interesting aspect of Warbeck's variation on
Horner's design is the stark change in instrumentation. Warbeck employs
an electric guitar, bass guitar, and marimbas to create the underlying
rhythmic style that he seems to have already preferred in
Shakespeare
in Love. Those instrumentation choices work with fascinating
success, and perhaps Warbeck figured that marimbas and electric guitars
would be the kind of sounds that would plague the confused mind of a
brilliant person fading in and out of lucidity. Their unique sound is
not only a departure for Warbeck, but also serves to distinguish this
score from the inspirational Horner entry in the genre. What Warbeck
does revert to is the heavily layered strings that produced so much
appeal in
Shakespeare in Love. He does seem to love his heavy
string themes, for they do eventually prevail over the guitars and
marimbas in the performance of that rhythm in the opening and closing
cues. The tonal strings continue to define much of the underscore, along
with several cues of pleasant piano contemplations. There are lengthy
sequences of underscore that play to the spirit of Michael Nyman or
Philip Glass, with minimalist tendencies that hold the listener in
anticipation of the next restatement of the guitar and marimba rhythm.
The score for
Proof is well balanced, providing solid
restatements of every idea throughout, and it is this consistency that
makes the music so effective. That said, the rhythmic portions, while
they will be the major point of attraction for some listeners, could
also try the patience of some listeners; the final cue, "Line by Line,"
is an extended and dense variation on this theme, and it will like make
or break the album for you. Overall, Warbeck takes the score in a
direction that nobody could have predicted, and with that move, makes
Proof an interesting discussion point at the least. But be weary
of its influences; if you found fault in the rhythms of
A Beautiful
Mind or the string themes of
Shakespeare in Love, then
Proof could prove unnerving.
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| Bias Check: |
For Stephen Warbeck reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.29
(in 7 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.23
(in 9,321 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
