Some minds are meant to leave an impact, such as the brilliant Dr. Stephen Hawking. Instead of letting his disability get the better of him, he became the smartest man on the planet.
Thanks to him, there are people today who point to Hawking as their inspiration for becoming theoretical physicists, which was why a biopic would prove to be an even greater insight into his mind.
I’m sure that Dr. Hawking is proud as Eddie Redmayne delivers an Oscar-worthy performance in “The Theory of Everything.”
While studying at Cambridge University in the early 1960s, Stephen Hawking [Eddie Redmayne] found the time to discover and fall in love with Jane Wilde [Felicity Jones]. The two meet very awkwardly at a party and hit it off from there.
Jane finds Stephen’s work fascinating, which attracts her to him even more. But right when he’s at his peak, Stephen is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Yet, Jane stands her ground and stays by his side, even when he starts to lose common motor functions such as walking and talking.
Adapting the story of Dr. Stephen Hawking could have turned out to be a film that was only made to get an Oscar. But the moment I saw Eddie Redmayne in this role, my doubts were cast aside. He not only captures who Stephen Hawking was, but also becomes Hawking himself. Give Eddie about five minutes and you won’t see an actor playing a role, but a brilliant man.
Unlike most biopics, the film starts his story when he’s already studying in college and doesn’t even end in present day. Instead, it revolves around his relationship with Jane. In that case, this could have been a very melodramatic love story. But because the two actors have great chemistry, it works.
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Eddie had to be great in order to pay the real-life Dr. Hawking justice, as well as Felicity Jones. I had to believe that someone could truly love him while a horrific disease was tearing him apart.
Within fifteen minutes, I completely bought that these two truly loved each other. Even at Stephen’s lowest low, she’s right by his side to comfort him.
But what I really enjoyed, is that it shows that they are both flawed in their own ways.
When Jane sees an opportunity right in front of her, she reluctantly shies away from it, just to stay faithful to the man she loves. The same type of dilemma also occurs with Stephen and it’s handled in the most human way possible.
If I have one criticism, it’s this. For a film that claims to be about Dr. Stephen Hawking, I expected more time devoted to his theoretical process.
Some of it is touched upon, but for the most part, the movie glazes over it and is more dedicated to the story of Stephen and Jane, which isn’t bad. I just wanted to dive deeper into his mind and explore his ideas.
As for storytelling, the narrative is well-done. The layout of events is nothing new, but it’s handled in such a way that it never becomes too noticeable, mainly due to the direction by James Marsh. Marsh creates a real, yet dream-like atmosphere where anything is possible in Stephen’s mind.
The moment where Stephen and Jane danced on the bridge under a string of lights, is still stuck in my mind because it was incredibly gorgeous to look at and cemented their relationship.
For anybody who ever wanted to know who Dr. Stephen Hawking really is, this film is a good stepping-stone as it makes you want to learn more. That’s what it did for me.
Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones deserve their Oscar nominations, as they both did a great job of portraying the smartest man in the world and the woman who stuck by his side through thick and thin.
Rating: B+
Matt Bilodeau can be contacted at mbilodeau@keene-equinox.com
