Review of The Theory of Everything (2014) by Patrick L — 01 Apr 2015

"The Theory of Everything is a well-made British movie, that's both a love story and a biopic".

Movie Review: The Theory of Everything.

Date Viewed: December 18 2014.

Directed By James Marsh (Man on Wire and Project Nim).

Screenplay By Anthony McCarten, Based on the novel by Jane Wilde Hawking.

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Charlie Cox, Simon McBurney, Christian McKay, Maxine Peake, Guy Oliver-Watts, Charlotte Hope and.

Lucy Chappell.

"The Theory of Everything" is pure Oscar-bait. Yes, it has two mesmerizing performances from Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones but I don't think it's one of the best movies of the year. "Theory of Everything" is just your average inspirational biopic that may have two great performances but it has a messy narrative. Stephen Hawking is one of the greatest living minds of our time but he should've deserved better treatment.

We start in the early 1960s where we see Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) as a really smart student in Cambridge. He soon falls in love with Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones), a literature student at Cambridge but Stephen Hawking receives devastating news from his doctors. He's been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and in two years or so, he won't be able to speak, walk, swallow or move any part of his body. Despite his devastating diagnosis, Jane will always stay by his side and they will defy the impossible odds.

"The Theory of Everything" will obviously get Oscar attention but if you want to see a better movie on this subject, go see "My Left Foot".

The production design and the costumes are great but director James Marsh (Man on Wire) and screenwriter Anthony McCarten are so focused on the love story, the research of Hawking's disease along with his physics get lost. "The Theory of Everything" may have flowers all over the place but it is well-acted and often moving. Hawking might've broke new ground in medicine and science but this movie is too sweet and superficial to be one of the best movies of 2014.