Going into the theater, I expected The Theory of Everything to be amazing. I’d heard great things about it and knew that Eddie Redmayne (the star of the film) and the film as a whole were definite Oscar potentials. So basically, my expectations were pretty high.
The film did not disappoint. The Theory of Everything was beautifully moving – it may not have been a perfect movie, but the cast, director, writer, and everyone else who played a part in the making of the film created something spectacular and dramatically poignant – something that, as a lover of these kinds of films, I highly appreciated.
Theory focuses on the life of Stephen Hawking and his relationship with Jane Wilde. In the film, Stephen and Jane meet and fall in love while studying at Cambridge, but Stephen soon learns that he has a disease that is slowly causing him to lose control of his body. The doctors tell him that he has about two years to live. Jane decides that she loves Stephen enough to stick by his side and take care of him. While the disease gradually takes over his body, Stephen continues his research in an attempt to find an answer to the question governing his entire life’s research: Is there an equation that can explain everything in the universe? Is there a “theory to everything?”
The film explores Stephen and Jane’s relationship and the obstacles they face as they try to live as normal a life as possible, for as long as possible. Jane is presented as an incredibly strong woman, but, as the film shows us, even strong women have their limits. Jane was initially told that Stephen had only a couple years to live, but as year after year passes and Stephen continues to breath, Jane starts to feel the weight of her life with Stephen and the responsibility of her job as his wife and caretaker pressing down harder and harder on her. She reaches her breaking point near the end of the film, and her words to him – “I have loved you” – evoke her feelings of love towards Stephen and her regret that she cannot be with him anymore. After years of being in this tumultuous relationship, she moves on to a more docile marriage with Brian, with whom she fell in love during her marriage to Stephen. This shift seems a little too predictable, and it may turn some viewers of the film off to Jane. But if you stop and think about the toll that her marriage to Stephen took on her and the sacrifices she had to make in her life to be with him, it is not hard to realize that she was, in fact, very strong, for as long as she could be.
Apart from the romantic aspects of the film, Theory is about Stephen’s scientific discoveries and the obstacles he had to face just to be able to express his ideas about the universe. Despite having a disease that limits him physically, he was able to get his PhD and make important scientific discoveries that changed the way scientists see the universe. The contributions he made in the world of science despite his physical limitations are awe-inspiring – if you don’t leave the theater ready to conquer the world, I don’t think you got what you were supposed to from this film. I do think that the importance of his contributions could have been capitalized on a bit more, because while we are given a vague explanation of his ideas and theories, the gravity of his scientific contributions doesn’t quite hit home.
The most impressive part of the film was by far the acting of Eddie Redmayne, who plays Stephen. The film tracks Stephen from his college years into adulthood, from the beginning of his disease to the state that Hawking is in today. The transformation of Stephen over the years is brilliantly realized through Redmayne, and the film would be nothing without it. This is, without a doubt, Redmayne’s best performance thus far (his two big films previous to Theory were A Week with Marilyn and Les Misérables, which were also amazing). Felicity Jones is, of course, a strong presence in the film was well – her portrayal of Jane does not in any way downplay her character’s strength and determination in the face of conflict.
Theory is a film that explores the limits of human capability. Through Stephen, we are shown that these limits are almost nonexistent – his wild success in spite of his physical limitations seems to tell us that you can succeed as long as you have the determination and the drive to work hard every day. On the other side of this, we have Jane, whose situation shows us that sometimes in life, people reach a breaking point, a limit at which they must stop and simply admit that they cannot go on – and this does not make us weak; it makes us honest. Through the situations of the two lead characters, we are shown two possible truths regarding this theme of limitation.
This film was truly something amazing – I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves films or just loves a good biographical/romantic drama film. For those interested in the upcoming awards season – make sure to keep a look out for this one.
The film did not disappoint. The Theory of Everything was beautifully moving – it may not have been a perfect movie, but the cast, director, writer, and everyone else who played a part in the making of the film created something spectacular and dramatically poignant – something that, as a lover of these kinds of films, I highly appreciated.
Theory focuses on the life of Stephen Hawking and his relationship with Jane Wilde. In the film, Stephen and Jane meet and fall in love while studying at Cambridge, but Stephen soon learns that he has a disease that is slowly causing him to lose control of his body. The doctors tell him that he has about two years to live. Jane decides that she loves Stephen enough to stick by his side and take care of him. While the disease gradually takes over his body, Stephen continues his research in an attempt to find an answer to the question governing his entire life’s research: Is there an equation that can explain everything in the universe? Is there a “theory to everything?”
The film explores Stephen and Jane’s relationship and the obstacles they face as they try to live as normal a life as possible, for as long as possible. Jane is presented as an incredibly strong woman, but, as the film shows us, even strong women have their limits. Jane was initially told that Stephen had only a couple years to live, but as year after year passes and Stephen continues to breath, Jane starts to feel the weight of her life with Stephen and the responsibility of her job as his wife and caretaker pressing down harder and harder on her. She reaches her breaking point near the end of the film, and her words to him – “I have loved you” – evoke her feelings of love towards Stephen and her regret that she cannot be with him anymore. After years of being in this tumultuous relationship, she moves on to a more docile marriage with Brian, with whom she fell in love during her marriage to Stephen. This shift seems a little too predictable, and it may turn some viewers of the film off to Jane. But if you stop and think about the toll that her marriage to Stephen took on her and the sacrifices she had to make in her life to be with him, it is not hard to realize that she was, in fact, very strong, for as long as she could be.
Apart from the romantic aspects of the film, Theory is about Stephen’s scientific discoveries and the obstacles he had to face just to be able to express his ideas about the universe. Despite having a disease that limits him physically, he was able to get his PhD and make important scientific discoveries that changed the way scientists see the universe. The contributions he made in the world of science despite his physical limitations are awe-inspiring – if you don’t leave the theater ready to conquer the world, I don’t think you got what you were supposed to from this film. I do think that the importance of his contributions could have been capitalized on a bit more, because while we are given a vague explanation of his ideas and theories, the gravity of his scientific contributions doesn’t quite hit home.
The most impressive part of the film was by far the acting of Eddie Redmayne, who plays Stephen. The film tracks Stephen from his college years into adulthood, from the beginning of his disease to the state that Hawking is in today. The transformation of Stephen over the years is brilliantly realized through Redmayne, and the film would be nothing without it. This is, without a doubt, Redmayne’s best performance thus far (his two big films previous to Theory were A Week with Marilyn and Les Misérables, which were also amazing). Felicity Jones is, of course, a strong presence in the film was well – her portrayal of Jane does not in any way downplay her character’s strength and determination in the face of conflict.
Theory is a film that explores the limits of human capability. Through Stephen, we are shown that these limits are almost nonexistent – his wild success in spite of his physical limitations seems to tell us that you can succeed as long as you have the determination and the drive to work hard every day. On the other side of this, we have Jane, whose situation shows us that sometimes in life, people reach a breaking point, a limit at which they must stop and simply admit that they cannot go on – and this does not make us weak; it makes us honest. Through the situations of the two lead characters, we are shown two possible truths regarding this theme of limitation.
This film was truly something amazing – I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves films or just loves a good biographical/romantic drama film. For those interested in the upcoming awards season – make sure to keep a look out for this one.