World Enough And Time

Rating: 7/10 (7 January 2015)

It would be a brave soul who posted a negative review of a film like this and a hard heart that is not moved to tears by the telling of its tale which is, has to be by definition, manipulative, but not, as in drama on stage or screen, where the writer skilfully leads us to what used to be known as the 'obligatory scene' which, often as not, gives us leave to weep for a moment or two before moving on, but virtually for four-fifths of the film. I freely admit to being as susceptible as the next man to skillful manipulation. In my favourite Noel Coward play, This Happy Breed, he establishes in Act One that Queenie Gibbons is flighty and values a 'good time' above the steady true love offered by next-door neighbour Billy Mitchell. In Act Two he has Queenie run away from home with an older, 'glamorous' man, causing her mother to forbid mention of the name Queenie ever again. Late in Act Three, Billy Mitchell, long established as a career sailor in the Royal Navy, calls on the Gibbons - as is his wont - whilst home on leave; casually he asks Ethel if the name Queenie is still taboo and relates how he ran int her in Nice. 'Is she still there'? asks Ethel. 'No, she's next door. We were married last week'. I've seen a dozen productions of the play over the years and I often watch the DVD of the film version so I know what's coming and never fail to burst into tears at that point in Act Three. Consummate manipulation by a great writer BUT the scene lasts for minutes only, the key speech seconds, AND it is, of course, Fiction. The story of Stephen and Jane Hawking is so factual that both are still very much alive and portrayed here by two actors who are beyond praise but if manipulation isn't your thing best avoid it.