THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING | Film Review (NO SPOILERS)

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Title: The Theory of Everything
Director: James Marsh
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones
Originally Released: 2014
Running Time: 123 mins / 2 hrs 3 mins

Premise. The story of Jane and Stephen Hawking.

Thoughts going into the film: I hadn't seen a trailer and assumed it was going to try and be cute and make us cry. Didn't think I'd rate it.

Thoughts immediately after: A lot better than I first thought.

The Film: Overall, the film was good. The first half was wordy nonsense for the likes of me who have a very limited idea of what physics entails, but was still quite fascinating. It was very intriguing to find out where Hawking's theories and academic life began. The introduction to MND was a bit sudden. I'm not sure if it was so sudden in Hawking's life, but I believe it slowly becomes more evident. Whilst the filmed hinted at it, it came almost out of nowhere, adding to the shock and the drama. Some of the better moments of the film came with the montages of Stephen's life, the colour became almost sepia as if these memories are the more precious ones. The events that were depicted in them were a great way to skip forward in time, whilst also depicting key moments within Stephen's life. There's a scene on the beach, which I found particularly devastating. However, I found it very ironic that the film plays on this theory of time and yet we're never explicitly given markers ourselves. When does the film end? How many years has he lived so far? Jones doesn't seem to age at all, so by the film's close I was shocked at how old their children were. Out of the films nominated for Best Picture, this (to a lesser extent than The Imitation Game) has a level of anonymity within its directorial feel. Each of the others nominated have a unique presence, and whilst this has levels of that, it sacrificed stye for the narrative of Stephen's life. An obvious decision to make, maybe depicting someone's life means you have to sacrifice some artistic licenses, but Selma didn't seem to.

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The Cast: I absolutely loathed Redmayne in the beginning of the film, he had this weird expression and such a bizarre way of talking, I just didn't warm to his quirky-posh boy portrayal. However, he really did prove himself in the latter part of the film, especially when the illness had affected Stephen's speech. It was a sensitive and relevant portrayal of those living with MND, and I thought he did tremendously. Bravo. Jones was gorgeous in the opening, yet a little stiff. She was quirky and cute, but as the film developed its serious tone, she blossomed. I remember her from her The Worst Witch days and she has come along way since then, stunning. Another cast member who deserves recognition is Maxine Peake. I've always found her a great actress, starting in comedy, she's come into her own within the past decade. She was fantastic in this. The rest of the cast were okay, they were very, very British, almost parody-like, did Stephen not have many northern friends?

Final Thoughts: The Theory of Everything is a good film, not outstanding, simply good. It's probably one of the weaker nominees, above The Imitation Game but below Boyhood for me. It's depiction of events was sensitive and its portrayal of MND was a fantastic way to end a year of raising awareness of a relatively unknown disease.

★★★½