Starring: Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones
Directed by: James Marsh
Screenplay by: Anthony McCarten
Based on the book, Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, by Jane Hawking
It seems that all people are talking about with this movie is the fact that Eddie Redmayne is incredible in it. And he is, but don't forget about Felicity Jones, people!
This is the story of one of the biggest names in the scientific community today, Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne), and his relationship with his wife, Jane (Felicity Jones). The story begins at Cambridge University in England in 1963. Stephen Hawking is only a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in physics. That's where he meets Jane, the woman he ultimately marries. It takes us through the stages of Stephen's life from then until after his divorce from Jane (not seen in the movie, so it's not a spoiler, but it is still true). Not too long after the movie begins, we see that he has been diagnosed with ALS, called a "motor neuron disease" in the film. As the film progresses, we watch as his disease gets worse, and more and more of his motor skills are taken away. As we watch his disease develop, so do we watch his relationship with Jane develop.
The story is told as an interesting way. At the beginning of the film, Stephen is the main character and very clearly so, but as the film goes on and his disease gets worse, jane becomes the more central character. This makes for an interesting examination of Stephen Hawking's life, because it is very much from Jane's perspective. Part way through the movie, it is clear that she is the main character because of her incredibly central role in Stephen's life. She is not only his wife, the mother of their children, but Stephen's caretaker as he gets worse. As their relationship progresses, they do not necessarily become a closer couple, but a more distant couple, likely because of Stephen's illness.
I like that the film focuses mainly on Stephen and Jane's relationship, rather than Stephen's theories. His theories are certainly discussed, but briefly. In fact, while we do not learn much about the science he theorizes about, such as black holes, the things we do learn about black holes complement the recent film Interstellar quite well. For this reason, I would recommend watching these films back to back for that reason even though they are completely different in almost every way. Only do this if you're really into black holes though. But now on to him as a person.
We often think of Stephen Hawking as one of the greatest and one of the most important people in the scientific community, but The Theory of Everything doesn't show us that side of him very well. It shows us the side of him as just another human being, yet he has been put in these extraordinary situations. This film shows this side of him extremely well and teaches audiences a great deal about him as a person. The Theory of Everything is a masterful character study.
What helps this film as a character study is the actors who portray these characters. Eddie Redmayne is truly incredible playing Stephen Hawking, and often it is possible to forget that there is an actor portraying him. He is so accurate at playing him that he should certainly be nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe come time for awards season. Stephen Hawking himself even said of Redmayne's performance, "At times I thought he was me" (The Independent). But the film isn't all about Eddie Redmayne. Felicity Jones is fantastic as Jane. There is not really anybody else who could play Jane with the grace that Felicity Jones brings to the film. She may also be considered for a few awards nominations; I certainly hope so at least.
I thought there would be more emotion in this film and that the viewer would not feel like he or she was simply watching the film on a screen, but be more immersed in it. Instead, it just feels like we are on the outside watching all of these events unfold in front of us and we are not meant to feel a part of it.
In the end, this is a really sweet and wonderful film that is a good tribute to both Stephen and Jane. Hawking was told he had two years to live once he was diagnosed with ALS, and today he is 72 years old and still a very active member in the world of science. This film shows very well, the struggles he has had to endure throughout his life to get to where he is today.
I give The Theory of Everything a B+.
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