Movie review: Heart over mind over matter in ‘The Theory of Everything’

Title notwithstanding, this isn’t a scientific documentary on the theory Stephen Hawking famously declared to be unobtainable (seriously, if there was a single set of rules that explained every aspect of time and space in physical terms, we’d probably have flying DeLoreans and sarcastic robot butlers by now) after having spent most of his life working on it. Indeed, “The Theory of Everything” isn’t so much a film concerned with Hawking’s academic career as it is on an idyllic-turned-turbulent-turned-civil relationship, when one of them happens to be the smartest guy on the planet.

The film opens in the 1960s, when the young Hawking (Eddie Redmayne), then enrolled at Cambridge University, meets the woman he would eventually marry, Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones). As the two take the tentative steps in their relationship, Hawking is working on his thesis under the guidance of Professor Dennis Sciama (David Thewlis, “Harry Potter’s” Professor Lupin, in non-werewolf mode), seeking to prove a correlation between black holes and the origin of the universe.

Far-reaching as Hawking’s research may be, however, the problems the wide-eyed student will face are closer to home: he is already suffering the initial stages of motor neuron disease. As a doctor informs Hawking following a nasty fall, the disease will cause his body to fail, though in the two years he is expected to have left to him, his mind will be unaffected. Despite the affliction, Jane proclaims her love for Hawking, and the two marry, determined to make the most of the time they have left.

As Hawking, Redmayne commits fully to the role, putting in a performance that could easily be dismissed as Oscar-bait, if not for the humanity the relatively young actor injects into his scenes. From the smallest twitches associated with the initial onset of motor neuron disease, to excruciating scenes depicting the loss of his physical faculties, Redmayne skillfully avoids the trap of relying on melodramatics to sell his portrayal. Even when he is finally relegated to the wheelchair (and, later, voice synthesizer) most of the world would be unable to recognize him without, Redmayne credibly conveys the fierce, undiminished genius of the man he is playing.

Standing steadfastly by her man is Jane Wilde, whose memoir, “Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen ” the film is based on. Even when Wilde falls into depression over her husband’s physical decline and his rising prominence while she is left to care for the children, Jones is able to inject a pathos to the proceedings that never comes across as cheap or pandering to the audience. Far from the typical “suffering significant other” her character could very easily have been, we feel for Jane and understand when she finds a measure of comfort in her friendship with choirmaster Jonathan Hellyer Jones (Charlie Cox), whom she would later marry.  

As of this writing, “Theory of Everything” is neck and neck with “The Imitation Game” in the race for next week’s Oscars, with nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor. Both are films about frequently misunderstood British geniuses (whose work changed the course of the world), and the women who stood by them when pretty much no one else would. While Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing has gained praise for what is – at its most basic – a riff on his well-honed eccentric savant persona, it is the opinion of this writer that Redmayne, in his portrayal of Hawking, had the decidedly more difficult task of the two. To wit, in playing Hawking, convincingly, from his school days through years of physical deterioration to his current, wheelchair-bound, voice-synthesized life – the transformation that Redmayne goes through, with nary a visual effect in sight, is extraordinary.

Despite criticism that “The Theory of Everything” is a gross oversimplification of the events it depicts (don’t get me started on how Hawking married, and later divorced, Elaine the helper), nitpickers need not be so harsh; this isn’t a movie about the mind of the world’s smartest man – it’s about the heart, and Redmayne and Jones are a hell of a double act that succeeds brilliantly in getting that message across.

And it doesn’t take a genius to see that. — DVM/BM, GMA News