Review of The Theory of Everything (2014) by Jason D — 05 May 2015

For me, this movie was tough to get through emotionally. It made me feel kind of evil and worthless. A lot of the themes in this flick, I have in my writing, but this is hopeful while mine tends to be a lot more nihilistic and negative. I also have some things in common with Hawking (thankfully not any physical problems) but my collegiate years were not marked by such buoying emotional or intellectual development. Therefore I always have to view this narrative with a touch of cynicism. I suppose the lesson is that while Hawking was atrociously unfortunate to have his disease, he was also blessed to find true love and academic inspiration and support.

There are a lot of small holes you can poke in it - the depiction of university is not very realistic, why would Jane be attracted to Stephen, not much development in the beginning of their relationship, common biopic foibles, unending will-she-cheat sexual tension in the second act, etc. But really, none of those very minor things matter much - this movie is all about theme. There's a kind of similar movie from 2001 - A Beautiful Mind. Every once in a while, the dialogue is a metaphor. In this movie, pretty much every line is a metaphor for the emotions of the characters.

Redmayne's performance was very affecting, like Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, before he entered the ASL phases of the script. Once it started coming on, he was very effective still, though his mannerisms reminded me very much of a friend I have with cerebral palsy. Don't know how similar the symptoms are between the two afflictions. After the disease hits him fully, I didn't really buy it as much, particularly because of the voice. Jones was solid as Jane, and the supporting cast did well too. I think in general, both the film and the acting was regarded in the proper light. Maybe I wouldn't have selected Redmayne to actually win the Oscar, but his performance is certainly deserving of a nomination. Meanwhile, the film as a whole is rightly an also-ran for Best Picture.