sloppy

Rating: 5/10 (29 January 2015)

Yes, Stephen Hawking's life story is quite remarkable, and his contributions to cosmology and physics are of some significance. This movie, however, in a word, is sloppy.
First, the compliments: all stars go to the actors. Eddie Redmayne, the male lead, spent a lot of time with the actual Hawking, and it shows in his dedication to capture the difficulties of living with the debilitating disease. Felicity Jones brings a nice mix of unconditional love and strength as the wife. David Thewlis feels right at home playing the advising professor. Charlie Cox is okay as the "nice guy" family friend, with just the right amount of shyness/reservation. Maxine Peake does well as the motivating nurse.
*some spoilers ahead*
The problems come with some of the scene choices and the way they are presented. For instance, there's an incredibly loud party and you can barely hear young Hawking conversing with Jane. He has a chess set in his room, yet he's never seen playing with his roommate or so, for the chess set's sole purpose was evidently to be smashed into a wall during a fit of rage. He gives a lecture for the first time after defending his dissertation, but his words are completely inaudible. The director thinks this is all fine and continues to bring subtitle-free speech until many minutes later when the machine arrives. During one of the earlier dinners, Hawking has difficulty bringing food to his mouth, so he slinks away and rests on the stairs (?). Then suddenly the director decides to show us random video of the inside of the human body, possibly the digestive tract, but it's absolutely unclear what is going on. Is he hungry? Did he wet himself? Has the disease progressed to another stage? Towards the end, it could perhaps be inferred that he and Jane divorced, yet 'divorce' or 'separate' is never mentioned aloud. It is unclear whether he was intent upon being with the nurse romantically, and whether she reciprocated those feelings.
Yes, there are some good moments, but overall I got an impression of sloppiness. Scenes, editing, word choice, and unclear intentions are only some of the problems I see here. As I said before, Stephen Hawking led a remarkable life, yet let us remember that we are here to rate the movie. 5/10.
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