Perfection.

Rating: 10/10 (17 August 2018)

If Benedict Cumberbatch had been up for an Oscar in any other year, for his masterful performance in The Imitation Game, he doubtless would have won it. But sadly for him, he was up against Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, and the result was inevitable.
Redmayne's portrayal of Professor Stephen Hawking is mesmerising. He fully and completely inhabits every aspect of the character, with not a trace of his original self evident at any stage. With minimal help from the makeup department, he perfectly metamorphoses into the famously twisted shape of Hawkins, and the resemblance is uncanny. His facial ticks and mannerisms are also spot-on, and he perfectly captures the wicked twinkle in Hawkins' eyes; the eyes of a brilliant man who despite being trapped in a useless body never lost his fine sense of humour.
And although Redmayne's performance is one of the greatest displays of acting skill you could hope to see, it does not eclipse the quality of the film itself, which is beautiful, touching, fascinating, funny, heart-warming, and life-affirming. It would be very hard indeed to find a better all-round piece of cinema. Every aspect of it is finely crafted perfection, from screenplay, to direction, to cinematography, to performance, to editing, to music... it is a cinematic feast; for the eyes, for the mind, and for the soul.