The Theory of Everything—Movie Review

by Peter J. O'Connell

The Theory of Everything. Released: Nov. 26, 2014. Runtime: 123 mins. Rated: PG-13 for some thematic elements and suggestive material.

Stephen Hawking is the brilliant British physicist and mathematician who has made important contributions to the understanding of the nature of time and the cosmos. His best-selling books have done much to clarify advanced scientific concepts for millions of readers. Stephen Hawking is also a man with a severe neurological disorder that progressively deprived him of the ability to walk, speak and see clearly. For most of his life, he has been confined to a wheelchair, communicating by means of a high-tech device and requiring virtually constant attention from caregivers. Jane Wilde Hawking was his first wife. Their story is now told in the fine film The Theory of Everything, directed by James Marsh with skill and nuance.

While suggesting the broad outlines of Hawking's scientific work, the film's real subject is, we might say, the “mechanics of marriage” rather than celestial mechanics and the “physics of personality” rather than astrophysics. Stephen (Eddie Redmayne) is a dorky, yet charming, fellow, who attracts the attention of the quite attractive Jane (Felicity Jones) while both are students at Cambridge in the 1960s. Attraction leads to engagement, and engagement leads to marriage, even though Stephen contracts amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Lou Gehrig's disease) and is given only two years to live.  

Stephen's courage and determination and Jane's love and care turn that short period of time into decades, allowing Stephen to produce such classic works as A Brief History of Time. However, Stephen has not—at least to date—been able to achieve his ultimate goal of formulating the one comprehensive equation that can be the basis for “the theory of everything.” And, eventually, the pressures on the couple's relationship become too great; others enter the picture; and, poignantly, it becomes time to write new chapters in the history of the long love affair of Stephen and Jane.

Eddie Redmayne's performance as Stephen has to be one of the most grueling ever committed to film. The actor's head is tilted, his torso twisted, his limbs “every which way,” his voice halting and muffled. Equally impressive as Redmayne's physical portrayal is the way that he does not let the physical aspects distract from the psychological aspects, his depiction of Stephen's dorkiness, charm, brilliance, bravery and love. 

The lovely Felicity Jones as Jane gives a lovely performance of both strength and sensitivity. She is one of the most appealing of the gifted young British actresses, and there have been a number of them, to come along since the days of Rita Tushingham in the 1960s.