Oscar Worthy Performances

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2015)

It took me a little while before I wanted to see this movie - a movie about the genius Stephen Hawking suffering from ALS, but boy am I glad I did. We all know how this movie ends, after all, Hawking is still alive today. His journey, however, holds many surprising twists and turns which give one an even greater appreciation for this great man and his incredulous story. Eddie Redmayne (Hawking) will surely get an Oscar nomination, and if he wins, it would be well-deserved. He was magnificent; you never felt as though he was acting which made his performance utterly heartbreaking. Felicity Jones, as his wife, Jane Wilde, was also superb. If the actual Jane was anything like the one Jones portrayed, then Ms. Wilde deserves the title "Saint." This film certainly gives a wikipedia type summary of Hawking's life, and there are some moments of slowness in the film (hence an 8 out of 10), but the message of this film is 10+. What resonates the most is the theme of the movie, which for me, is that living a life filled with hope and positivity takes courage, sometimes to heroic heights. Perhaps Hawking's genius goes even beyond his aptitude in science, but rather lies in his attitude toward life. The manner in which he's lived and continues to live sums up the Theory of absolutely Everything.