Bias alert: I’m not a big fan of Oscar baiting bioptic pictures. I usually find them over blown and more focused on some actor trying to prove their acting brilliance than having an engaging story line. Of course there are exceptions, but ‘Theory of Everything’ is not one of them. Based on the book by Stephen Hawking’s ex-wife Jane Hawking, the story is told in bland milquetoast detail providing all the insight that could have been found in five paragraphs of Wikipedia. This was a uniquely unsatisfying film about a man whose story should have been much more developed. It was not the actors fault as they all turned in superb, ‘Oscar’ level performances, but the storyline execution kept them from greatness.
The film starts off following the blossoming academic career of Stephen Hawking (played exceptionally well by Eddie Redmayne) meeting his future wife Jane (Felicity Jones) while trying to find a subject of his doctoral paper. The events that lead to Stephan searching for the universal equation that explains everything and finally settling join Time are some of the most engaging pats of the film and areas that I wish they would have developed more fully, but this was secondary to the love story. Actually, I would have been fine with this, but as I mentioned, this was story was written by Stephen’s ex-wife. While I commend her for trying to put the best spin on the story, it came across as glossed over and ultimately unsatisfying in understanding them as people. The film follows Stephen and his wife through the milestones of childbirths, fame, and marital issues, none of which are fully realized or explained.
The bringing of another man into their marriage as well as Stephen ultimately leaving his wife for his caretaker were unsatisfyingly explored. It was treated as if this were the most normal and natural thing in the world instead of a fascinating human story to be explored. As far as their separation being amicable, I think that is great, but I would like to have a bit more understanding of the dynamic other than ‘It just happened’. The poetic music and flowery photography tried to add a dimension of beauty to the story, but I felt it just distracted from the essence of the story, which was the brilliance of a man who battled great obstacles and odds, but still retained his fundamental humanity, with all the weaknesses and triumphs we all face.
Of course, most people know the tragedy of Stephen Hawking’s condition, so there was really only a sense of dread as we see him deteriorate. We saw much of his physical obstacles, but not enough of how he emotionally coped with them. Nor was enough explored about how he had children while in this condition or the rumors about the children’s actual paternity. The author, Jane Hawking, states she wanted to keep that private, but that is a significant omission of the story she wanted to tell. If you are not going to uniquely focus on his scientific contributions, rather their marriage, then tell the whole story or don’t tell it at all.
Overall, the orchestral music and artistic imagery were overdone in an attempt to make this an Oscar worthy film. Eddie Redmayne proved himself an exceptional actor playing Stephen Hawking (I wouldn’t b upset if he were nominated) during various stages of his disease, but it was not enough to make this film an engaging or comprehensive examination of one of the great minds of the 20th and 21st centuries. Big disappointment, but I blame that more on the source material rather the film making skill. They did the best they could with what they had to work with which was an incomplete and surface examination of the topic.
I give this film ** stars out of four
