The Theory of Everything (2014)

Before going into and seeing, The Theory of Everything, I really did not know too much about Stephen Hawking. I of course knew who he was and that he was a famous physicist for his work on black holes and other such matters and I had also seen video clips and photos of him, but really knew otherwise next to nothing about him and I have never actually read any of his books, but after seeing the film I am a little tempted and curious to do so, even if the subject matter does go over my head a bit (I both did poorly and did not enjoy high school physics class). On the other hand, those who go into The Theory of Everything, looking for an elaborate account of Hawking's work and his science and the method behind his work, then those people may be in for a bit of a letdown as this story while it does focus on Hawking's life, it mostly focuses on his long marriage and relationship with his wife, Jane, who wrote the book on which the film is based on. The film focuses heavily on the relationship between Stephen and his wife, Jane and the hardships they had to deal with due to his various health problems that he developed when they first become interested in each other till the present time. Eddie Redmayne, who plays Hawking, does a phenomenal job here. He starts out as a shy, somewhat bookish and nerdy student who has a fair bit of humour to him and also has a love of education and finding out the big questions and answers of the world. As his illness develops and progresses over the years, we see how hard it is for him to move, speak and just do everyday things whereas he is eventually confined to a wheelchair and has to speak through a computer. Redmayne's performance is so believable and must have been really hard to pull off as we see him struggle to eat, walk, speak and just how he twists his face and muscles and how much physical difficulty and pain is involved in this as well as his strong desire to succeed and to achieve more and more each day is evident in Redmayne's wonderful performance which must have been exhausting and difficult to play, but he does an excellent job here in what I think is one of the year's best performances. Equally good here is Felicity Jones, who plays Jane. While the role is not as demanding physically, it is more demanding emotionally as we see her totally devote herself to all of Stephen's every waking needs and how she went out of her way to both care and love for him. At times it was certainly difficult and I am sure she just wanted to give up, but we also as in him, see her determination to make things work and she is an incredibly strong person and character and you can see that everything she does has her full best and wonderful intentions. Her performance is an emotional one and is beautifully and brilliantly portrayed as well and is also one of the year's best performances. When the film first started out, I thought it would be a fairly safe and by the numbers biopic, but it really took me by surprise at how interesting I found these characters, their lives and the situations they found themselves in. Again because of the brilliant performances and masterful script and direction we can both care for and have empathy for these characters as well as personally cheer them on and wish all the best for them as we are sitting quietly in our theatre screens glued to the screen with captivation and interest. The film has an excellent pace to it and works well as a biographical film, but works even better as a story of love and the difficulties and sacrifices it took to make it work and just how strong both Stephen and his wife are at the end of this film after all they have gone through. It really is an inspirational and feel good film when you think about it after all they accomplished and went through. Sure there are moments of heartache and when we see them suffer, but it is not all grim. We also see moments of happiness and how these two, from the second they met, really do love each other and had a marriage full of trust and devotion to one another. The film is doing well in limited release and expanded wider in theatres this week and I feel very privileged to have been able to see it on the big screen. It is thoroughly fascinating from start to finish and features two of this year's most believable and best performances and also gives us hope and encouragement while we may be not exactly in their same circumstances, but for other things as well. The Theory of Everything, is a real triumph and one of the best films of 2014.