love is the theory behind everything, not time, not space, not God, only love

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2015)

Personally I have been suffering from a certain degree of biopic fatigue, those annual staples blatantly pandering to academy recognition are often dazzling with Oscar-baity performances, but its narrative structure and skill usually are all laboriously conventional and monotonous. James Marsh's THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING is the quintessential archetype of this sort and it is going to give Eddie Redmayne the coveted Oscar for such a taxing mission to imitate Stephen Hawking, the still alive-and-kicking bigwig cosmologist. However, Marsh conducts the film with a fluid pace and it wondrously invigorated by its technical crew, particularly Jóhann Jóhannsson's engrossing soundtrack and the ever- pervasive subdued light from lighting department.
So, as a result, the film itself is a pretty good biopic, or more specifically, a good (even great) hagiography, since it is adapted from Jane Hawking's autobiography, she is Hawking's first wife and their marriage lasted for 30 years (1965-1995). Hence Jane (Jones) is not just a supportive wife who lives through all the ups-and-downs with Hawking, but completely overshadowed by his achievement and put aside in the corner as we might expect from any standard biopic of great man, instead, Jane is as much in center both in this picture and the un-common relationship as her renowned husband, it is their love story that touches, impresses and melts our hearts, so if you are going to this film harboring a false hope to witness Hawking's extraordinary academic path, you are destined to feel disappointed. On the other hand, the script excruciatingly whitewashes Jane and Stephen's extramarital affairs to offer both a mutual more high ground of looking good, their ménage- à-trois period with sweet widower Jonathan (Cox) is overwhelmingly in rapport, Jane's repressed feelings towards Jonathan never dare to overstep the social boundary, the most explicit indication is Jane's night visit of Jonathan's tent during a camping, then, that is it, it is always a safe card to leave the rest to audience's imagination, as far as the next morning they are not shown together walking out of the same tent, it is safe! As for Stephen's dallying with Elaine (Peake), goes a little bit more explicitly, using Penthouse magazine as the catalyst, but no further familial conflict is presented, the ugly side is well-preserved in the memories of those who are involved firsthand, audience's voyeuristic curiosity again is quenched mercilessly by the tacit agreement of the filmmakers and the insiders.
No one should depreciate Redmayne's performance, even for the most sharp-tongued disparager, he is absolutely par excellence, when you grab such a once-in-a-lifetime chance and pull off a role with such sublime verisimilitude and imposing elbow-grease, Oscar is in your pocket, even a revered veteran's belated comeback stunner cannot take it away from you (sorry, Michael Keaton). Felicity Jones, is equally excellent, but without a physical-transformation edge to secure a win and one disadvantage is that she is hampered by the default of a hagiography, there is something emotive wanting. Nevertheless, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING is a cohesively-orchestrated eulogy of the power of love, love is the theory behind everything, not time, not space, not God, only love, even it has decomposed into a past tense, the feeling of its once authentic presence will still be dauntless enough to encourage us to strive in this world of infinity, that's why we should thank this movie for giving us the blessing.