Any comments I have on this film must be prefaced by the fact that I am not the target market for this film. It is a modest, charming documentary about the mathematician Paul Erdos, of whom I was vaguely aware before seeing this film. I suppose I know more about him after seeing it, though it would have been difficult for me to know less.
I will give the film credit for being as layperson-friendly as possible in the segments where Erdos himself is not speaking. The filmmakers try to drum up interest in Erdos' love life and curiously vagrant lifestyle, which are indeed charming peculiarities of the man himself. Erdos, when he speaks, is witty, expansive, and curious. However, he simply does not make for a compelling screen presence. Those viewers who tune out at the more technical segments will not find much between those segments to hold their interest. As someone with a passing and general interest in mathematics, I found this to be a serviceable documentary that is unlikely to convert anyone to a life in math. However, if you too have a general interest in getting to know more about one of the leading figures of modern mathematics, this is a perfectly fine place to start.
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