The Theory of Everything

With the Oscars fast approaching, we've seen plenty of biopics attempt to grasp the attention of the Academy. The latest to be released, James Marsh's The Theory of Everything, is up for Best Picture and depicts the life of Professor Stephen Hawking from his time in college, his struggles with his debilitating disease, and his relationship with his supportive first wife Jane.

At a Cambridge party in 1963, astrophysics student Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) meets Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones), an Arts student studying the Romance languages, with the two hitting it off straight away. Hawking is shy yet highly intelligent and witty, Jane is also somewhat introverted but sensitive to Stephen's intricacies. Hawking is still unsure what to complete his thesis on, which is worrying his Professor, Dennis Sciama (David Thewlis). After showing an interest in black holes and the creation of the universe, Stephen decides on his topic: time. 

Hawking is making great strides with his academia and his relationship with Jane, but soon he realises that he is having difficulty walking. After visiting a doctor, it's discovered that Stephen is suffering from motor neurone disease, which will slowly paralyse him. He's given approximately two years to live. Stephen tries to hide from Jane but she won't give up on him, resulting in one of the most emotional games of croquet ever played on screen. Jane wants to have as much time as they can together, no matter how difficult that may be.

One worry I had about The Theory of Everything was that it would focus entirely on the relationship between Jane and Stephen, and turn the film into too much of a Hollywood romance. However, this is not at all the case. Marsh has managed to strike a perfect balance between their relationship, Hawking's work and how his disease would affect both. Based on Jane Wilde Hawking's book Travelling to Infinity – My Life with Stephen, the film provides what seems to be an honest depiction of the support that Jane gave him and how it broke her down in many ways. Time is used thematically throughout as reference to Hawking's field and research, however its woven through very subtly and is much more effective that way. My only criticism of the script is that it drags in a few places and at points it creates too many divisions between different eras to flow well. However those concerns seem minute amongst the many captivating moments that The Theory of Everything has to offer.

Eddie Redmayne's performance absolutely dominates the screen, and is testament to his incredible abilities as an actor. Early on, he forms the image of a shy yet passionate student whose intelligence towers over all his colleagues. Then as the motor neurone disease starts to take its toll, Redmayne transforms his body to match Hawking's. The devil is in the details here, with his loss of dexterity, slurring of voice, curling of lips and eventual paralysis all handled sensitively. Felicity Jones embodies a sensitive, yet at times frustrated Jane and a refreshingly strong female character. Whilst some of the supporting actors are underused, such as Emily Watson, others provide magnificent performances, with David Thewlis a standout as always.

After the recent rush of biopics, I thought that I wouldn't be able to stand another, but The Theory of Everything proved me wrong. Marsh has formed a well-constructed appreciation of both Hawking and the woman who supported him, with an astounding performance from Redmayne.