Theory of Everything (2014)

[samdvd1]

Eddie Redmayne is set to star in this Stephen Hawking biopic according to The Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/...-of-everything

[bainbridge's_stache]

Trailer

The Theory of Everything Official Trailer (2014) Stephen Hawking Movie HD - YouTube

[Snicket]

I didn't know it was possible to cry during a trailer.

[pikeman1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M15L1zqlMws

[NoFro]

Looks good... and Felicity Jones is gorgeous.

[IndyMLVC]

Just got out of a screening of this and thought it was absolutely wonderful. Time flew by and I thought it was insanely interesting. HIGHLY recommended. Eddie is phenomenal.

[50strat54]

Saw it last night, excellent film. Learned a lot about Stephen Hawking and his personal family life.

Both Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones deserve nomination and I feel deserve to win.

Eddie had the big "showy" role and nails it but Felicity Jones quiet performance was stunning.

[Foggy]

I'll try and check this out in Poland, might actually have the opportunity to see this one.

[Holmes]

A pair of dynamic lead performances and a director with a sharp eye cannot entirely hide the fact The Theory of Everything is a flawed film biography, but they help a great deal. The film, of course, focuses on Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne), the British cosmologist and theoretical physicist who has become one of the most iconic and influential figures in modern science despite a devastating and ever-worsening diagnosis of motor neuron disease during his time as a student at Cambridge. Chief among the film's concerns is his 30-year relationship with his first wife, one Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones). She loves and advocates for him while also helping with day-to-day activities which for him could have become insurmountable. Genuine inspiration is found in their romance and the various acts of courage and sacrifice it entails, and the film also portrays the ways in which they drifted apart or resented one another with incisive tact.

The performances are the heart of the film and no doubt worthy of laurels. Redmayne undergoes a astonishing and traumatic transformation, conveying the pain Stephen experiences as his muscles betray him and his limbs contort. His eyes remain vivid, however, and abundant with iconoclastic wit. And though her performance is more subtle, Jones matches him beat for beat. She at first registers as a force of conviction and elegance, but later plays sharp notes of unfulfilled longing and self-doubt. Behind the camera is James Marsh, a versatile director who transitions from documentaries such as Man on Wire to fictional features such as the undervalued Shadow Dancer with admirable ease and confidence. Here, he is in fine form and fashions a chic and high-toned production, always capturing the dance of light on reflective surfaces and infusing certain sequences with home-movie intimacy via Super 16-millimeter photography. He also trains his camera on small, yet poignant details, including, for instance, a moment in which the paralyzed Stephen closely observes the way his wife and friends reach, dine, and demonstrate their points with their hands around the table. Each gesture, we realize, represents a luxury he will now forever be denied.

Yet, despite Marsh's acumen as a craftsman and also the undeniable quality of the cast, The Theory of Everything falls a hair short of the type of creative combustion required to elevate a film such as this from crowd-pleasing and respectable to truly great. The primary shortcoming is its inability to illuminate the scientific genius of its subject. There are brief, ultra-simplified explanations of his theories, yes, and briefer still references significant moments in his career as a scientist, including the publication of his bestselling A Brief History of Time. And his personal evolution as a husband and as a father is touching, but the film needs and fails to illustrate the tapestry of his mind (or its idea of his mind) and the presumed storm of frustration, glee, inspiration, and obsession driving envelope-pushing scientific discovery. Without doing so, it is at once very fine and slightly incomplete.

B

[detective392]

Gonna have to wait for the BD on this one. Can't wait to see it though.

[Michael24]

Saw the trailer over the summer and really liked it. Wanted to see it, but no theaters around here are showing it. So I'll have to wait for the Blu-ray. But it looks really good.

[djgeneral]

wow, surprised no one has really discussed this movie.

but I found it pretty boring. Eddie's performance was great but that's about it.