Review of The Theory of Everything (2014) by Kevin P — 03 Mar 2015

While some people may be off-put from the lack of focus on Stephen Hawking's scientific aspect of his life (which I'll admit I was initially as well), I ended up really appreciating the personal and human element.

And the passion of revolutionizing the scientific world is still present as well, it just isn't shown as much of a conflict as Stephen getting more and more consumed by his disease while his wife and other loved ones try to support him all the way through.

Once I found that the biography this was based on was written by Jane Hawkings, I realized that this was more of the story of Stephen Hawing's life shown from his wife's perspective, their shared conflicts are at the main focus and they both get equal amount of screen time.

However, it is still Stephen freaking Hawking, so I can still understand desire for more of his scientific aspect shown. As for the cast, Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne both hit it out of the water with this one.

You really feel for these characters and understand all of the layer Eddie in particular had to perform since as the scenes go by he has to find a new way to communicate to the other actors in a respectful but realistic manner.

Fortunately the religion vs. science aspect is kept to minimal banter, and the personal conflicts in the last act are for the most part handled quite well. Overall while this may not be the scientific Stephen Hawking biopic that you were hoping for, it still provides enough personal conflict and human connections with two spectacular leads to make it worth a watch.