Our Movie Review: The Theory of Everything (2014)

Why we watched it: Oscar nominations and Best Actor winner

Our rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Our review: I’d avoided this movie just slightly, fearing it would be a big picture version of the Lifetime biography-of-the-week movie. I was definitely wrong, as the acting from all involved clearly raises this to must grander status. I can understand why Eddie Redmayne was rewarded for his acting. Through his super physical abilities, he really did embody Stephen Hawking and draw us into his story. At the moment where he portrays Hawking, in his chair, speaking only through a computer voice box, I had to take a moment to remind myself that this was an actor and not Hawking himself. Equal in emotional weight is his co-star, Felicity Jones, in bringing us into the world of Jane Wilde. The story is engaging, although it has one major gap–we don’t fully understand why Hawking eventually leaves Wilde for another woman. The implication is that it is based on ego and sex, which may make this intellectual giant as human as everyone else. It just didn’t seem to fit with the character the film had been building to that point. Despite this minor quibble, this is a film definitely worth seeing.