The Theory of Everything

If you know anything about this blog, you might know that I always try and watch all the movies that were nominated in one way or another for Oscars. I usually try and get as many out of the way before the awards are actually announced so I can give my thoughts and predictions prior to the announcement. You might also know that in the three years that I've been writing this blog, that has never actually happened. The closest thing I got to was predicting who was going to win Best Original Song. (That was an odd post now that I think back to it). But usually after the award season, unless I have direct access to these movies, I usually only stumble upon them from time to time and give my thoughts after the awards season is far over.

Such is the case with The Theory of Everything.

The Theory of Everything is a biographical romantic drama about the lives of Stephen Hawking and his first wife, Jane Wilde. The two main characters are played by Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones.

The story begins in 1963 when both of them are students at Cambridge University. Hawking is studying astrophysics while Wilde is studying literature. The two meet and figure out that despite being incredibly different they're incredibly in love.

So begins this honeymoon phase of the relationship where everything is perfect, they're going to dances together, they're swinging around in the common area spouting off romantic nonsense, its really kind of adorable. Now this is not to say the relationship is all sunshine and flowers, it does feel like an actual relationship beginning. I'll just say the spinning around was kind of cheesy.

Hawkings seems to be on the top of the world as he begins to find his calling in his studies and begins his crucial research until he is diagnosed with ALS or motor neuron disease as they call it here. He's given two years to live and is told he has this disease in probably the worst way possible. He's basically told, you'll have two years where your bodily functions will fail, however your mind will continue to work fine, nobody will be able to hear those thoughts though.

The remainder of the story is the personal challenges of Stephen Hawking continuing his research while dealing with this disease. But more importantly, it shows the relationship between him and Jane and how his deterioration affects her life. These two get married, they have children, they try and be as normal of a family as they can but there's always certain things that need to be done to sustain Hawkings and they're difficult stuff.

And while we're on it, lets talk about Eddie Redmayne and the transformation he goes through, from able bodied to the Stephen Hawking we know today. Its absolutely phenomenal.

The changes are ever so slight throughout the movie but they are incredible. But what's so phenomenal is that Redmayne always gives off the atmosphere of being this brilliant physicist no matter what.

ALS made it so Hawking's motor functions slowly shut down and that included his vocal abilities. In this, his speech slows WAY down. But at the same time Redmayne is able to capture that brilliance and keep the character quick witted even if his speech skills do not allow for it. I still haven't seen Birdman (that review might be coming next week) or two of the other actor's performances who were nominated for Best Actor, but the level of commitment and transformation Redmayne goes through in this movie makes it the incredible obvious choice for him to win that Oscar.

The other performance worth talking about is Felicity Jones as Jane Wilde Hawkings. She's great. Unfortunately the only thing I know Jones from is The Amazing Spider-man 2 and that's only because her name is Felicity and that reminds me of a cat and I think she was being set up to play Black Cat... so... yeah.

In many ways, this is almost Jane Wilde's story more than it is Stephen Hawkings story and she nails it.

There's a great part when they figure out about his disease where she says, I may look like someone who can't handle herself, but I promise you I can. And that's really a great personification of the role. She comes off as this sweet not a care in the world woman but she's incredibly strong and makes for a phenomenal character.

And again, the story is definitely about the relationship more than it is about either of them. Now my girlfriend had an issue with this movie that I was interested in seeing how they did it prior to me seeing it. The trailers for this movie make this relationship out to be the best relationship on the planet, that nothing could shake these two. But in reality, Hawking ended up not exactly being faithful to his first wife, left her, and started a new life with his nurse in America. (Spoilers?)

And while the trailers made it off like it was just going to be focused on Hawking and his first wife, that part of their lives are definitely in this movie.

And that is interesting mainly because Hawking is still alive. If you remember my review on The Long Walk to Freedom, I mentioned that the portrayal of Winnie Mandela didn't seem in the best taste as Winnie Mandela is still alive. I have since wrestled with that stance depending on the facts at hand.

The question one must ask is, is it an accurate representation of the actual people in real life? Are these people still alive? And if so, is this movie going to attack their reputation.

While I still think presenting Winnie Mandela as the sort of antagonist at the end of Long Walk to Freedom wasn't exactly a great idea, if that was accurate maybe it was a great idea.

What makes me rethink this is the representation of Hawking and his wife and their struggles throughout. I can assume that there were liberties taken, in one way or another and it all depends on how it contributes to the story and whether or not its inflammatory to the person or their family. I think Theory of Everything did a little bit better of a job than Long Walk to Freedom, but it makes me reconsider the issue.

The one thing I will say works against this film is that its not totally sure if it wants to be a movie totally focusing on Hawking and Wilde's relationship, or if it wants to be a biographical film on Stephen Hawking.

I get that its trying to be both and in many ways, it succeeds in being both, especially in the beginning when he's testing his theories and researching.

However, the movie does take a detour from his scientific accomplishments in the middle of the film to focus on the relationship and their family life. Which don't get me wrong, it was great storytelling and great drama, but then they kind of awkwardly steer back into his research and accomplishments, almost to the point that you don't really know what he's doing between the 1960s and the 1990s when he's meeting the Queen.

Again, the parts that focus on the relationship between Stephen and Jane are fantastic. However, near the end, almost the climax of the film, he's talking in front of people and there's a moment where it almost seems like the movie had been about Stephen Hawking and his accomplishments the entire time and not about the relationship between him and Jane. It wasn't bad, but I don't think it was as climactic as I would have expected it to be.

This movie is a fantastic movie. No ifs ands or buts about it. Its just flatline, a great film.

The acting is phenomenal, the prosthetics and stuff used to not only transform Eddie Redmayne into Stephen Hawking, but the aging make up is phenomenal as well. I've had a couple movies that I've complained about the prosthetics and make up but this movie, I have absolutely no complaints. The aging was so subtle it was almost too subtle at times. The story is phenomenal (although sometimes a little uneven between being a biographical movie on Hawking and being a biographical movie on Hawking and his wife). Even the music is freaking phenomenal.

If you haven't seen Theory of Everything, please, do yourself a favor and go watch it. It's just a feel good movie that is incredibly real and fascinating at the same time. You won't regret this one.

But those are my thoughts on The Theory of Everything. What did you think of it? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 where you can also send me requests for future films for me to review. If you follow me, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews from this blog.

I'll leave you with this. Every once in a while Screen Junkies do a segment on actors before they were famous. Did you know Benedict Cumberbatch did a TV movie where he played Stephen Hawking? Enjoy!