Directed by: James Marsh
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, David Thewlis, Charlie Cox, Emily Watson
The Theory Of Everything is the story of Dr. Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most brilliant scientists confined to a wheelchair since the late 1960s due to Lou Gehrig's disease. He was given two years to live when first diagnosed, but he is now 72 and continues to be among the most revered people in the scientific community. His fame has even entered mainstream media, including a recent cameo appearance on The Big Bang Theory. His mind is as sharp as ever, even though his body has failed him. His communication with the world is done through a computer which "speaks" his thoughts.
Hawking's story as presented here lacks power. I found myself enjoying the performances and hoping for a spark which never arrives. The film concentrates not only on Hawking, but on his first wife Jane (Jones), who loved him and nursed him as his motor skills and normal daily functions slowly ceased. They first meet at Cambridge in 1963, before Hawking earned his doctorate. He is gawky and awkward, as if he is behind the wheel of a body that he can't quite control. One day his legs give out from under him and we learn the sad truth. Yet, Jane has fallen for him and promises to conquer his disease together. They marry and have three children, but soon Jane has the unenviable task of caring for three toddlers and her husband who can barely feed himself. They move the bed to the kitchen so he doesn't have to fight his way up and down stairs to get to the breakfast table. However, the burden is relentless.
As Hawking, Redmayne is physically convincing. We witness him shrivel up in his wheelchair and stare into space, seemingly seeing nothing but observing everything. It must have been draining to play Hawking physically, but Redmayne does so with humor and warmth. The screenplay doesn't really provide us with much insight into Hawking's feelings as his body fails. There certainly had to be moments of anger and sadness that Hawking felt, but the movie sidesteps them. Jones is sweet, caring, and kind as Hawking's wife, but even though she dutifully tends to Hawking, the love for him is never adequately conveyed. Nor is the continued stress on her as the caretaking of her family overwhelms her.
A subtext of the film is both Stephen and Jane's tacit approval of each other having lovers. Since Stephen can no longer physically satisfy his wife, she turns to the kindly local church choirmaster (Cox), who assists Jane in the caretaking of her family and then becomes her lover. He is the epitome of kindness and gentle anguish as he struggles with his feelings for her. He wants to Do The Right Thing. Except for some brief scenes, we never really see Hawking as a near-genius scientific mind. We sense he is a genius because others tell us he is. We rarely even see him working and struggling to prove his lauded theories. The only way we know he worked at all is when we see his books put on display in store windows.
It is hard to fault the performances in The Theory Of Everything. The trouble is more at the screenplay level. The film is happy to cover the surface of things, but doesn't delve too deep. A lot of ground is covered, but not really explored. What we have here is skilled, but ultimately perfunctory.
No comments:
Post a Comment