Imagine a brilliant young man- having the glory of a cosmological
inquisitive mind and the great privilege of being educated in one of the
world's great institutions of learning-at Cambridge- and finding
himself in love with a young female student who is in love with him --
and getting ready to embark on a stellar career... suddenly finding that
his future may well be sealed by a cruel Motor Neuron Disease that the
doctors predict will end his life within two years. Who of us would have
the stuff to turn that fate into one of the great triumphs of love and
genius?
Well, in this film we see how that could come to pass. We
watch Eddie Redmayne (in the role of Stephen Hawking) adapt himself to a
disease that most cannot survive: he goes from stumbling:... to
balancing on one cane... to acquiring the aid of two... to then
worsening to a motorized wheel chair... until he has-- on top of all- a
speech synthesizer, which allows him-as few could ever find the strength
to do- to write popular tomes and speak to the masses on his findings
regarding his long sought ambition to set forth The Theory of Everything
in The Universe.
There's no question in my mind that-- as I
watched the navigations of the actor, Eddie Redmayne-- I was truly
witnessing how Stephen Hawking was doing it. But without the love and
almost superhuman dedication of his wife to Hawking's welfare, he
scarcely would have succeeded. You can feel her love and courage
throughout every scene in this beautiful film. In real life she is Jane
Hawking- played by Felicity Jones. Her role's fulfilled with a
truthfulness that makes films work.
Felicity Jones and Eddie
Redmayne are made for each other as this film rolls. Even as I drove on
the road after leaving the theater, I could still sense the emotion I
had felt as I viewed their roles. There is so much to think about:
Watching someone with Lou Gehrig's Disease flourish with the marriage
these two achieve- along with the three kids that they're able to
bear--- and watching, too, the harsh pressure that Jane Hawking endures
-- as she focuses on her family and the career, which she wished to
pursue... and how all of that turns out... is something that leaves one
with immense admiration for both of these actors-- as well as the
director and the screen writer who made this movie come to life.
James
Marsh, as the director, forms each scene in a conscious desire to make
the plot evolve in a tasteful manner- even though the lives of these two
people do not flow as ready-made fairy tale. The writer, Anthony
McCarten, took the words of the real Jane Hawking's memoirs, and created
a tale that gives us the essence of the romance and stark challenge
that their lives must have borne. Others helped them greatly. David
Thewlis, who plays Dennis Sciamo, the professor, who's helpful as his
doctoral advisor and later calls himself Hawking's good friend, does
solid work. It is quite touching to see him rejoicing as Hawking goes
from Cambridge hero to international cosmos celebrity. Charlie Cox, who
plays the choir master and organist- who's grieving his own
loss-generously becomes part of the Hawking family and then later
becomes more than a friend to Jane Hawking. Even though friends fear
what seems to be taking place, the denouement is handled well.
There
is a majesty about the filming that presents the lives and events of
these folks with a background that is never tawdry. Credit for this
achievement goes to Benoist Delhomme, the cinematographer. I seemed to
feel the presence of the music score off and on, which-- to my mind--
made it a welcome warm inclusion. Johann Johannson gets a lot of praise
for this.
Later on-for Hawking's day care-- a new attendant,
played by Maxine Peake-in the role of Elaine Mason-- takes charge. Her
fresh attentiveness and devotion to Steve Hawking becomes a welcome and
then challenging sequel to the Hawking's marriage. But, here, again, I
didn't feel it was handled other than as part of a new sympathetic
development.
... But why the title, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING?
Could it be that-really... over and above the unique cosmological work
that Hawking did-- there was the truth that love and courage in the face
of a cruel fate is really what all things human are really built upon.
Would it really change a jot or tittle of our beings if what Steve found
IS the theory of everything? Do any of men act or live differently
since it was found that the earth is no longer the center of the
Universe? Will human nature ever improve----regardless of genius
involved-- with mathematical knowledge and great insights? Nevertheless,
with a movie like this we see that the real "everything" is that
EMOTION WINS. And that is the very thing that gives us the experiences
that we go to the movies for.
Here, also, you might want to see a
film that will surely get some Academy Award recognition. Based on my
own ranking determinance, it gets an EIGHT.
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