Moving biopic about Professor Stephen Hawking

Rating: 9/10 (25 February 2016)

This biopic tells the story of Professor Stephen Hawking from the time when he starts his doctorate at Cambridge till the publication of his book 'A Brief History of Time'. We see him fall in love with Jane Wilde and start to develop some interesting theories before being diagnosed with motor neurone disease. He is told that he will probably live another two years at most but rather than giving up he throws himself into his research into time and the nature of black holes. The two years soon pass but he shows no signs of dying; in fact he is working as hard as ever on his research and starts a family with Jane, who is now his wife. Things get harder still when he has a tracheotomy and loses his ability to speak. Even this doesn't dissuade him from his research, it does however start to put a strain on his relationship with Jane as he becomes close to his nurse Elaine and Jane gets closer to Jonathan, a man she met at church.
If anybody is worried that this film will be bogged down with complicated science needn't be concerned as it is far more about Stephen Hawking's relationship with his wife Jane and how they deal with his condition. Eddie Redmayne is outstanding in the role of Stephen Hawking as he depicts him going from an apparently healthy young man to a man confined to a wheelchair who can no longer speak; it isn't just a case of sitting in the chair he captures the mannerisms and posture of the real Professor Hawking it is no surprise that he picked up an Oscar for his work. Given his outstanding performance it would be easy to overlook Felicity Jones' performance as Jane; she may be playing an 'ordinary' person but her performance is far from ordinary. The rest of the cast are also impressive. Overall I found this to be a moving story that was definitely worth watching.