Elegant.

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2015)

The Theory of Everything chronicles the life of Stephen Hawkings - world renowned British theoretical physicist and probably the most famous scientist in the world.
Starting in 1953, when Hawkings (Eddie Redmayne) is attending Cambridge University as a PhD candidate right through to present day, the film is an elegy not just to his incredibly successful career, but also to his triumphs in his personal life with his wife, Jane (Velocity Jones).
With its primary source based on Jane's memoir, 'Travelling to Infinity: My life with Stephen', the entirety of his and her lives are detailed in fine-tune, from the moment they meet in a party a connection was made. She was studying Medieval Spanish Poetry, and he was studying time-travel cosmology. Through the hard-ships of his life as his body failed him, Jane is not scared away, but instead stays, marries him, has a family and cares for him. Fair to say, it is as much Jane's story as it is his, from where it is shared and melodramatic.
From the beginning scenes of the film, Oscar-winning director James Marsh makes a point in showing that Stephen has a problem. Beginning subtly, but slowly deteriorating, Stephen is diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease, or ALS. Given two years to life he is soon unable to walk, then after an emergency tracheotomy, he is unable to also talk.
Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of Hawkings is undeniably incredible, and adds much gravitas to the performance as he slowly transforms. In the later scenes, now unable to walk or talk, he is restricting to a wheelchair; hunched, hands cramped, face distorted and only able to communicate with his eyes and a computerized voice. Redmayne's resemblance to Hawking is uncanny and authentic as he dips into front-runner Oscar-bait. Upon viewing the film, the real Stephen Hawkings even admitted that it was like he was watching himself.
The science of the film, which are the fundamentals behind Christopher Nolan's Interstellar are often complex to understand; but quantum physics, black holes and relativity are all expertise subjects to Hawkings, which led to his famous accolades going world- wide from his book 'A Brief History of Time'.
Of course, the theories are quite difficult to comprehend if you are not a mastermind scientist. But that is okay, as on the screen we merely see Hawking's in front of chalkboards with long equations, big words and hypothesis' as others either proclaim his work as 'Brilliant!' or 'Rubbish!'
The Theory of Everything certainly holds a treasure chest of rich material. Too much for one film to squeeze in perhaps, with the massive subject of who is Stephen Hawkings? But Marsh's vision is poignant and precise as nothing is rushed or missed out as it condenses into the tidy two-hours running time.
Set in a similar style to Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind, the film is elegantly crafted from the beautiful cinematography to the sensitive performances. It's masterful, triumphant, and will surely prosper in every category possible at this year's Academy Awards as one man's struggle provides the point that 'there is no limit to human endeavour'.