A tour de force for Eddie Redmayne

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2015)

The Stephen Hawking bio-pic The Theory of Everything is one of the leading contenders in 2015's awards season, with Eddie Redmayne being deserving of the praise he has been receiving as the famous physicist. Based on Jane Wilde Hawking's autobiography The Theory of Everything looks at relationship between Stephen and Jane (Felicity Jones) as they fall in love and deal with Professor Hawking's motor neuron disease, looking at the physical decline and the struggles Jane has to go through caring for him and the family. Those wanting or expecting a look at Professor Hawking's scientific work will be disappointed as it is only glanced at: if you want the film about Hawking's science then I recommend watching the excellent BBC TV film Hawking starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
Redmayne is transformative in his role as Stephen Hawking, being brilliant at showing Hawking's disability taking over, from small things like struggling to run to being unable to speak. He had excellent chemistry with his co-star. Jones as Jane does have a sizeable role, having to help with husband academically and physically and develops a relationship Jonathan Jones (Charlie Cox).
James Marsh's direction is solid making sure their decent pace and provides some interesting visuals thanks to Benoît Delhomme's old- fashioned cinematography. But Anthony McCarten's screenplay has a very episodic quality, looking at small moments of Hawking's life, such as Hawking's university days before his diagnosis, dealing with his diagnosis, early scientific breakthroughs, etc.... The scientific revelations shown to be eureka moments.
The film is very reminiscence of A Beautiful Mind, looking at the personal life and struggle of a scientific/mathematics genius, having a look at his relationship and how they have to deal with adversity.
7.5/10