Comments on 'The Theory of Everything'

We went to see 'The Theory of Everything', the movie directed by James Marsh and written by Anthony McCarten based on the book 'Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen' by Jane Wilde Hawking.  It is a pretty straightforward biopic about the theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking -- starring Eddie Redmayne as Hawking and Felicity Jones as his wife, Jane Wilde Hawking.

The poster for 'The Theory of Everything'

Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease which is related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (commonly called Lou Gehrig's Disease) while he was still a student at Oxford.  At the time, he was given a life expectancy of less than two years.  He went on to marry Jane, father three children, divorce Jane and remarry -- his nurse, Elaine (played by Maxine Peake).  Following the divorce, Jane married Jonathan (played by Charlie Cox) the young choir master and music teacher who had assisted Jane in caring for Stephen and their family.  

Professionally, Stephen became a noted scientific thinker and author, traveling and speaking extensively, and eventually founding the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge.  The movie is framed by his investiture as a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.  He is now 72, almost completely paralyzed, and uses a speech synthesizer to speak after a bout with pneumonia in 1985 required a tracheotomy.  At the time, the doctors asked Jane if she wanted Stephen removed from the ventilator that was sustaining him.  She refused.

While making the simplifications and elisions needed to develop the movie's romantic arc within a two-hour commercial format, the key elements of the Hawkings' remarkable story remain.  The science is not really dumbed-down so much as it is intelligently summarized -- much as Hawking's book, 'The History of Time', was written for smart laymen, not fellow academics.

Redmayne courageously tackles Stephen's physical afflictions, but more importantly portrays his sense of humour, his guileless brilliance and his sexual appetite.  Felicity Jones' blazing performance as Jane Hawking brings out Jane's strength as a wife and mother, without downplaying her frustration with Stephen's ingratitude and with the difficulties of maintaining a support system for a capricious genius.

With wonderful performances and gorgeous cinematography -- filmed on location in Oxford and Cambridge -- it's a fine, thoughtful movie that deserves to be seen and savored.

Publicity banner for 'The Theory of Everything'.