Well made and often very moving

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2015)

The Theory of Everything is a biopic about world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and his first wife Jane Wilde Hawking. I really enjoyed it. It was well made and often very moving.
The film covers most of the important moments in Stephen Hawking's (Eddie Redmayne) life, beginning with his courtship and eventual marriage to Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones), a literature student whom he met at Cambridge University. Over time, Hawking begins to lose control of his muscles and he is unable to use his hands and feet to accomplish even the simplest of tasks. The doctors diagnose him with motor neuron disease, an illness which causes the human body to slowly and permanently shut down the ability to move limbs but is told his brain will remain unchanged. He is given 2 years to live. In that time, however, Hawking starts a family with his wife and gives lectures at universities on his theories of black holes and the birth of the universe. Despite his condition getting worse and worse, Hawking still tries to see the positive side of life and even manages to write his famous book "A Brief History Of Time", which becomes a bestseller.
Eddie Redmayne's performance as Hawking was so convincing I often had to tell myself he isn't the real person. Felicity Jones was great as well as Hawking's loving and committed wife Jane Wilde. The love story between them always felt genuine and never forced.
I rate it 9/10. I also recommend watching the 2004 TV movie "Hawking" starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a companion piece for this film.