Interesting by Default

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2015)

"The Theory of Everything" is the kind of standard-issue biopic that breezes through the life of whoever is its subject (in this case Stephen Hawking), hitting all the highlights while glossing tidily over all of the complexities that would actually exist and surely did in real life.
At least this one isn't afraid of addressing the less flattering elements of its protagonist, namely the fact that Hawking dumped his devoted wife for his nurse after his wife had spent years caring for his every need. Eddie Redmayne gives an impressive physical performance as Hawking (it's no wonder he won the Oscar -- the Academy loves performances like these), while Felicity Jones suffers nobly, as wives always do in biopics like this. She is really the more interesting character, or would be if the film allowed her to be, instead of treating her as an assemblage of personality traits it can use to move the plot forward. All of the dramatic conflicts in the film are treated equally, and none of them seem to carry much significance. Hawking's announcement that he's leaving his wife, for example, is handled by the actors as if he's told her he just spotted a mouse in the basement.
The film does a good job of recreating its time period, which is something another Oscar-bait period piece from the same year, "The Imitation Game," didn't do. Still, the film manages to look like a magazine ad, everything bathed in a glossy glow.
The story of Stephen Hawking is so interesting and the movie is competently enough made that it ends up by default as being interesting itself. But is it too much to ask that a biopic once in a while do something, anything, surprising or daring?
Grade: B+