Review: Theory of Everything (FILM)

This is a little quick thought burst on the film Theory of Everything. I won't bore you with film details on how long it is or who the director is - but instead I'll bore you with my opinion.

Strangely enough, as I sat there in the lovely cinema that is the Broadway Cinema in Nottingham, I couldn't help but feel like this was an origin story of Steven Hawking (you know, like Wolverine, but only a famous scientist instead.) Not to say that's a bad thing, that's exactly what this film is. It charts the early parts of Hawking's life following his relationship with Jane Wilde. 

In essence, it's not a love story, it's more of a life story. It depicts a man condemned to live only two more years from the discovery of his health condition that causes the muscles in his body to shut down (which he defies). It follows the brave woman who decided to stand by the man she loved, marry, have children, and look after them all as his health deteriorated. It follows the struggles they faced, and what feels like a real-life relationship, rather than one of those written in fairytales (the ones I love so much). 

It is a touching story, which is made more poignant by the fact that is actually happened. And although I did enjoy it immensely, it wasn't a film that I cried at (which is normally unusual for me with films like this.)

The film is rather beautiful and effortlessly flicks through decades very subtly. You could have just literally walked in on their lives during the 70s.

The acting was superb from minor characters to Felicity Jones' portrayal of Jane. In particular a standout performance was Mr Hawking himself: Eddie Redmayne. His transformation was incredible. There were moments within the film when he could only act with his eyes, no bodily movement, no speech, nothing. If anything the film is worth watching purely for his performance. 

And I have but one last thing to note. Although this story is portrayed about being about a scientist that we all know, someone who was overlooked turn out to be the true star of this film. To put it quite bluntly, it's his wife. She did everything for him. She put her dreams on hold to do a PhD in languages, she raised their three children almost single-handedly, all whilst running a home and being the sole carer for her husband. This just proves to show that we never truly know all the facts and how things play out behind the scenes.