A mind blowing performance and a fascinating film

Rating: 8/10 (11 December 2014)

Every year I end up watching one or two "critical darlings" that I likely wouldn't normally watch because of Awards season. I am trying to get ahead of the curve and see as many potential Oscar nominees before the nominations take place and since The Golden Globes were announced today, I decided to check this film out. I had fairly meager expectations given that I anticipated this to be a bit of a bore honestly. I was completely wrong. The film is emotionally charged, beautifully shot, fantastically acted and just a really amazing story about a man that everyone knows the name but how many of us know about him? As another reviewer pointed out, they made this film without hardly touching on the Science that Hawking is most known for but that serves to make this film easily enjoyable by just about anyone. This film is about Hawking's personal life, his relationship with his first wife and his heart wrenching physical deterioration with Lou Gehrig's Disease. In some ways its a simplistic film focusing on those certain details while likely avoiding others but it definitely gets the point across and ends up sitting with you long after the credits roll making this an impressive and very good film.
The last time I saw Eddie Redmayne it was in the magnificent Les Miserables. However, I found him less than magnificent in that film. Honestly, I found him incredibly irritating so I wasn't looking forward to seeing him in this. Well I eat my words. Redmayne is magnificent. He is certain to get an Oscar nomination because he completely loses himself in this part and easily gives the best performance I have seen this year. It brought tears to my eyes more than once and you just ache for this man. He makes Hawking come to life on screen. Fellow Golden Globe Nominee Felicity Jones is high on my list of favorites. Yes, its true that much to my wife's chagrin I have an enormous crush on her and have ever since Chalet Girl. In the first part of the movie I was a little surprised she had gotten her nomination. It wasn't that she wasn't good in her role as Hawking's beloved first wife but she was just okay and really had to step up to match Redmayne's performance. However, when Hawking deteriorates physically Jones finds her footing and gives an excellent performance in the latter half. I'd still say it wasn't anywhere near Redmayne's but she is very good and their chemistry is excellent. David Thewlis is also very good in a supporting role as Hawking's mentor and friend. I must admit though I was a little surprised that the rest of the supporting cast is just okay and no one particularly stands out at all. In fact, a couple of the more significant characters feel clumsy and almost in the way of the overall story.
Surprisingly so, James Marsh has had a lot of experience with documentaries and that rarely translates well into strong direction of a motion picture but he does this extremely well. Perhaps his experience in factual films helps make this feel so real. The true brilliance of The Theory of Everything is that you feel like you are right there with Jane and Stephen Hawking. You are experiencing their life. This is a first rate biography and as the story goes even Hawking himself was moved to tears watching this. The tone of the film is so sad and heart wrenching and yet you're inspired to watch on because Redmayne makes you believe and understand Hawking's brilliance to the world even if you know nothing about his theories and work. The film slowly changes direction and you begin to see things more from Jane's perspective (this being based on her book) and you get a different understanding of Hawking seeing him from her side of things. This isn't a film that everyone will enjoy but for a beautiful drama with a great story and a magnificent lead performance you can't go wrong. I look forward to seeing this film at the Oscars and see what else is out there that can rival it. 8.5/10