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EDITOR'S PICK
'The
Theory of Everything' - Redmayne delivers a masterstroke (IANS Movie Review)
Rating:
****
The world famous physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking needs no
introduction. Hawking fundamentally changed our understanding of black holes,
quantum mechanics, and relativity, all the while popularising science with his
best-selling book, "A Brief History of Time".
Apart from his academic brilliance, what makes Hawking a subject for an
inspiring biopic is his unfathomable spirit which is imprisoned in his
dysfunctional body.
"The Theory of Everything" is essentially a love story, adapted from
the memoir of Hawking's first wife, Jane Wilde.
The narration in a linear format is simplistic and rolls on from the campus of
Cambridge in 1963, where Stephen, a floppy-haired and thickly bespectacled
student falls in love with the petite Jane.
The film, a life-affirming tear-jerker, focuses on their relationship. He is an
agnostic, she a Catholic and how their blossoming love affair was affected by
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease. It
is touching to hear her say, "He loves me and I love him and we are going
to fight this illness together, all of us."
Despite his illness, falling, stumbling and crawling Hawking fathers three
children and reveals that beyond the extraordinary circumstances, he is "a
man" nevertheless. The scene elicits a chuckle but at the same times
reveals the genius' joie-de-vivre attitude.
Anthony McCarten's script is well-etched with the right amount of dramatics and
emotional display. It does not get messy or melodramatic at any given stage. The
scenes are treated in a distinct antiseptic nature and the plot races at times
trying to hit every major event in Hawking's life.
What keeps you glued to your seat is the power-packed performances by the cast.
Watching Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking is like seeing the man himself both
mentally and physically. His posture, gait and slurred speech were not acting,
but personification of the character. His performance is probably one of the
best portrayed in recent times and worthy of several awards.
Felecity Jones, who compliments Eddie as his wife Jane, who declined to take the
easy option out of the relationship, delivers an equally robust performance. Her
transition from a cheerful youngster to a responsible wife to a distressed
mother and a frustrated lover is palpable. You feel for her.
There is Charlie Cox as Jonathan, a lonely widower and a choir master at the
local parish, who is ever willing to offer a helping hand to the beleaguered
family. He delivers a sensitive, but fairly predictable performance, that's
probably because of the stereotyped nature of the character he portrays.
With sharp eye for detailing, director James Marsh delivers a brilliantly
scripted film that delves on the romance angle and not glorification of the
genius. The director has taken pains in the detailing and the finer nuances of
the histrionics. It is amazing to notice how he judiciously introduces hints of
the illness from the very first scene so that the progression into a full-blown
disability is seamless and absolutely convincing.
Except for minor issues; like grainy frames in the visuals of the family picnic
scene and parallel editing when Stephen and Jane are cuddling their first born,
which seems like the couple are having twins, the film otherwise is a
masterpiece.