Directed by James Marsh
Written by Anthony McCarten based on the book by Jane Hawking
Starring Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones and David Thewlis
The relationship of Stephen and Jane Hawking as his ALS begins to deteriorate his body and their struggle to remain happy.
This film had a lot of things going for it. It had top notch performances from all of the actors. The cinematography was stunning and enticing. The direction was surprisingly phenomenal seeing as how James Marsh usually sticks to documentaries. The only thing lacking for me was the story.
Here, you have one of the most intelligent men, not just in modern times, but perhaps the history of the world. You have his struggle with motor neuron disease while he struggles to complete his doctorate at Cambridge. Not to mention the countless scientific break-throughs that Mr. Hawking is responsible for. But they chose to follow in my opinion, one of the least exciting parts of his life. His first marriage.
Not shown: Anything alluring.
I understand that this is based off the memoirs by Jane Hawking, so I only have myself to blame for my expectations of the film versus what it actually was. What I can't grasp is how enough members of the academy thought this was the best picture of the year in order to have it nominated for an Oscar. A nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role? Of course. You'd be crazy not to. But Best Picture?
That seems to be the running theme this year. Every year, you might get one undeserving film in the group. But this year, three of the nominees have no right being there in my mind. It seems this year, the academy has become obsessed with films that could have been so much better than they were. "American Sniper", "Selma" and "The Theory of Everything" are all good movies. But they could have been great.
My Rating: 6/10
Eddie Redmayne's performance: 10/10
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