Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Theory of Everything
2014
**½
Director: James Marsh
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Charlie Cox, Emily Watson, Simon McBurney, David Thewlis, Maxine Peake, Harry Lloyd, Guy Oliver-Watts, Abigail Cruttenden

In 1963, Stephen Hawking is working on his thesis and falling in love with Jane Wilde, when he is diagnosed with motor neurone disease and given two years to live. We now know that Hawking became a celebrated theoretical physicist and died at the age of 76. Hollywood traditionally churns out tragic but uplifting biopics about brilliant artists and scientists whose lives are burdened or cut short by a) a crippling illness, b) prejudice, c) substance abuse, or d) premature death. This one belongs firmly in category a) together with the likes of A Beautiful Mind or My Left Foot. Anthony McCarten's script is based on Jane Wilde Hawking's book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, and it shows how Jane has to put her own life on the back burner in order to see to the needs of her husband, which eventually takes its toll on the marriage. While James Marsh doesn't tell the usual love-heals-all-wounds story, his film lacks edge and originality. Once again a brilliant mind overcomes adversity and triumphs, but what makes Hawking so important? Marsh fails to answer the question, so the end result is not much more than a disease-of-the-week movie. It is extremely well acted, though. Eddie Redmayne's incredible physical transformation earned him an Oscar.