Interesting and beautiful to watch.

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2015)

The basic story is well known now, but here we are told more about Jane (well, her book is the starting point). A brilliant young scholar is struck down by a serious ailment and it given a short time to live.
He, and his young love strive to make the most of whatever time they have left. They marry, conceive and bear and raise children. There is so much extra for us all to think about in this movie, ie, How would I cope in that situation, if I was afflicted, or if my partner was? Not as stoically as Stephen and Jane do, I suspect.
Credit has to be given to Anthony McCarten for writing the screen- play. We don't really know how much of the great scenes and lines come from Jane's book, but, wherever they come from, they are great.
My favourite might be where Jane's mother suggests that Jane should join the church choir, "So English" says Jane, but goes to the choir, and meets Jonathon. Beset by the pressures of looking after Stephen and the children, and needing and seeking support, she and Jonathon become more than friends.
When a nurse comes into the house to look after Stephen, she and Stephen become attached. A post-script tells us that Jonathon and Jane are now happily married. Rather oddly, nothing is said about Elaine and Stephen? Apparently, they did marry, but later divorced.
A bonus feature of the DVD is the "Descriptive Video Service" in which a voice-over explains what is going on. That is really helpful as there are scenes which are not well explained. That's worth an extra rating point! And... I would recommend turning the sub-titles on as Stephen Hawking's voice is a bit fuzzy at the best of times.