‘The Theory of Everything’ is absolutely everything
By Liz Reichart, A&E Editor //
There are some pieces of art, some stories, some films that make you not only want to do something with your life, but they also make you grateful for the life you have. “The Theory of Everything” does both these things. Following the life of renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and his coping with a motor neuron disease, the film pulls back the curtain on this enigmatic legend of science. Stephen Hawking, played by Eddie Redmayne, was famously diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of 21 and given two years to live while he was in the middle of studying to become a doctor of sciences at University of Oxford. Twenty minutes into the film, he has met Jane Wilde, played by Felicity Jones, and he has been diagnosed with a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Jane, although knowing Hawking only has two years to live, confesses her to love to him and they wed. By the time Stephen presents his thesis on the creation of the universe to rave reviews from his professors and, in turn, a doctorate, he can barely speak.
The story is absolutely stunning, both visually and emotionally. Viewers realize this from the very start as the out-of-focus screen is luminous and drenched in light. If there is one thing people know from just this artful sequence alone, it is that this movie will be very, very pretty. Part bio-pic, part love story, the rest of Stephen’s life progresses in opposite directions; while his health only deteriorates, his theses only become more numerous. The introduction of Jonathan Jones, played by Charlie Cox, into the Hawking household presents some stumbling blocks for Jane and Stephen.
For his performance in “The Theory of Everything,” Eddie Redmayne won the Golden Globe for Lead Actor, and after viewing the film, it is beyond well deserved. Redmayne spent six months researching Hawking’s life, watching every interview footage he could find on him. The actor met with Hawking several times and spent many hours studying ALS patients. So impressed by Redmayne, Hawking gave him his blessing and also offered to lend his voice, the real electronic voice that he uses, at the close of the film. At the Toronto International Film Festival, as the lights came up at a recent screening, a nurse had wiped a tear from Hawking’s cheek. Stephen Hawking has said that watching the film was like watching himself on the screen. You really cannot get a better reaction to your own biopic than that.
Since Hawking is such a famous figure, viewers go into it knowing that although they see the twenty-year-old riding bikes around Oxford at the opening of the film, his health only deteriorates over the course of his story. There’s no suspense in that plotline, but it’s never a slow film. You always want to know what happens to Stephen next. And yet, there’s something about this film that makes you want to get out and live life. This man was supposed to be dead before his 22nd birthday. It is truly incredible that he still lives and breathes at the ripe age of 73. Hawking’s situation is one the saddest – a fully functional brain inside a completely paralyzed body- and despite all the odds he was able to mathematically support theories that changed the world twice over. Everything about this film is uplifting – it is the triumph of the humankind in its finest form. Simply put, this film is absolutely everything.