Not as good as I'd hoped: too far from reality

Rating: 6/10 (23 October 2017)

First and foremost, it is a movie about Hawking's wife, not himself. After all it's based on her autobiographical book, not his. So there is very little science, all things considered, which was kinda disappointing. You know very little about his colleagues, about his own discoveries. The actors are great, and some scenes are memorable though. But all in all it was disappointing in one particular aspect: accuracy.
It shows Hawking as very understanding, and as his wife sacrificing everything once she knows he has the disease. Except she KNEW he was sick BEFORE dating him in real life, while the movie shows the opposite... Moreover, you don't feel the years she had to suffer taking care of himself and the kids alone while he refused exterior help. In the movie you feel like the first time he sees her suffering he says "ok we need help". That is not what happened. This is the issue when you wanna show a period of 40 years in one movie, you can't show all the suffering and disputes, as it would be too much to take in for the audience. I've heard that Hawking had a great sense of humor which is shown here, but I've also heard that he can be a jerk, and you don't see that here at all. It's too mellow, despite the disease, and the complex platonic relationship with Jonathan. It's also too Americanised: a lot of orchestral music to trigger emotions at specific moments, I hate that.
It was the exact same issues with Les Intouchables: the music is too present, and they don't show the reality. In the real story of Les Intouchables, Omar Sy's character was closer to a real criminal, was violent. Once there is a discussion where you hear "maybe we should tone it down for the public" it's over, you can't make a great movie out of it.