“There should be no boundaries to human endeavour. We are all different. However bade life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life there is hope.”
Release Date: November 26, 2014
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
MPAA: PG
Available on Netflix: As of March 14th
I’ve been wanting to revisit and review The Theory of Everything for a little while now, actually since Johann Johannsson passed away in early February. I figured there was no better time than now, considering we lost Stephen Hawking on March 14, 2018. I figured this review would be a good way to honour him.
The Theory of Everything is a biography, drama and romance film that looks at the relationship between the famous physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane.
The Theory of Everything is directed by James Marsh, who is a ilm maker I am not too familiar with. He directed one episode of the outstanding mini series The Night Of {TV Mini-Series} (2016). I thought the directing for this movie was quite well done, I thought Marsh was able to get great performances out of all his actors, big parts or small, and he actually directed the two main stars to Academy Award nominated and winning performances for their roles.
The film was written by Anthony McCarten, who I was not too familiar with until I saw and wrote my review for Darkest Hour (2017) – for more on that film heres a link to my review for it – http://awmoviespot.com/2018/03/05/darkest-hour-2017-review/ . I quite enjoyed his script for The Theory Of Everything, it was really fantastic. It was heart warming, eye opening and lovely. There were points where you would laugh, and others when you would be choking back tears or trying to clear that lump in your throat… but that would not be possible without a great cast of actors to put your script into action.
The Theory of Everything stars a wonderful cast, but I will only focus on the two main characters, but I thought everyone in this movie was excellent.
The Theory of Everything stars Eddie Redmayne as Steven Hawking and Felicity Jones as Jane Hawking.
Eddie Redmayne’s filmography consists of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (2016). I truly thought I have seen more of his films but I guess not, but that will have to change soon! Eddie Redmayne was not a person I have ever seen or heard of before this I watched this movie, and after that he has been a name I haven’t forgot. It was insane to me how amazing Redmayne was as Stephen Hawking. I genuinely got lost in his performance and forgot I was watching a movie. It felt like a documentary to me, it didn’t feel like i was watching a film, I felt like I was watching his life story. There is absolutely no surprise in this reviewers eyes, when he won the Academy Award for Best Male Actor in a Leading role in 2015; there was no competition, i didn’t have to see the other performances to know that this performance was something special.
Felicity Jone’s filmography consists of Like Crazy (2011), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), True Story (2015), Collide (2016), A Monster Calls (2016), and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). Like Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones was an actor I wasn’t familiar with, I saw maybe one of her other performances before The Theory of Everything but I didn’t really take notice of her. After The Theory of Everything however, I took notice. Felicity Jones is quickly becoming a name to watch in my mind, every role she’s been in I’ve liked, even in crappy movies – Collide (2016), she was definitely the stand out of that movie. Jone’s in this movie however was so lovely and so enduring, she really let you get to the core of her character, and you knew exactly what she was thinking. She had excellent chemistry with Eddie Redmayne, it was just incredible and needs to be seen. She was incredible, and definitely deserved her nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Oscar in 2015.
The music in this movie deserves a special commendation. Composed by the late, great Johann Johannsson, which led to a nomination for his work by the academy at the 2015 Academy Awards. His filmography consists of Prisoners (2013), Nerve (2016), and Arrival (2016). He was such a great and underrated composer, his music was always excellent in films and always stood out to me. His piano and his style was very distinct, and he will be surely missed. Even his albums are excellent, if you’re looking for just beautiful and relaxing tunes, check out his album Orphee. Its life changing.
We unfortunately lost one of the greatest minds of our time on this day, but I feel like this movie was a beautiful way to celebrate his life, not so much his accomplishments as a Physicist, but he as a person. I’m not sure exactly how accurate this film is based on his life, but I remember reading a piece of IMDB trivia that said that Stephen Hawking thought he was watching himself on screen, and thats good enough for me. For a man who was given only 2 years to live after he was diagnosed, and to live as long as he did. He defied expectations. I dedicate this review to Stephen Hawking, may he rest in peace.
I give The Theory of Everything a 4.5/5. I return to this movie quite often, as I love the story and the performances.
Give it a shot! its on Netflix.
Until Next Time,
Andrew