The Theory of Everything

Depicting the vulnerability of the characters in the crucial situation in a rational way is probably the best part of the latest Hollywood biopic on Stephen Hawking, The Theory of Everything. Focusing more on the personal emotional journey of the master brain who had to face a lot of hardships in life, The Theory of Everything works fundamentally because of the fact that it actually happened.

The movie focuses on the Teenage and the life after that of Mr. Stephen Hawking. Steve who was a brilliant PhD student falls in love with Jane, who was also studying in Cambridge for another PhD. How they fell in love and how it helped the great scientist to get back in life strongly from after being given the information that he won’t live for more than two years.

Well, expecting a narrative that can contain both the scientific life and personal life of the great scientist can make the movie a not so overwhelming experience. Because the movie has very less focus and interest in showing us how the family support helped Steve in creating his hypothesis about Time, Black holes etc. More than that part, the focus is mainly on the personal side where we get to see the struggle both Steve and Jane had to undergo during this phase. Mr. Hawking’s insecurities of not being a good husband and Jane’s selfless efforts to keep the spirits high even by challenging her feelings for another man are some areas were the movie succeeds. As the growth of the Physicist isn’t given much of an emphasis in the screenplay, we won’t feel much moved when the characters praise him towards the end of the movie.

The terrific performance of Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking is indeed the highlight of this James Marsh movie. The slight nerdy character of the scientist was handled very nicely by him and the transformation sequences also looked stunning. The scenes towards the end needed his facial expression to communicate more and the actor has done that job very impressively. Felicity Jones also showed potential in her portrayal as the sweet, caring and strong Jane. Charlie Cox, Maxine Peake and many more are also there in the movie putting up a nice show.

James Marsh has conceived the idea in an impressive manner. The thoughts and personal conflicts are presented on screen in a less chaotic yet indulging way. The hiccups of the writing was basically in the screenplay part which sadly couldn’t merge the hypothesizes of Mr. Hawking in a remarkable manner. Also it kind of gets stuck with the personal trauma at some points. Cinematography and edits were nice. Art direction was also good.

Supported by fabulous performances, The Theory of Everything is a less glorified biopic that deserves to be watched. The rating for this James Marsh movie is 3.5/5. At some points, Jane reminded me of the character played by Ann Augustine in Shyama Prasad’s Artist.