Movie Review: The Theory of Everything

As a nursing student, lover of science and fan of romance, I was drawn to wanting to see The Theory of Everything. This movie tells the story of Stephen Hawking and his now ex-wife Jane from the time they were introduced at Cambridge to the time that their marriage fell apart.

Stephen Hawking, highly decorated, genius physicist, was struck with ALS while pursuing his PhD. ALS is unable to be cured and is progressively degenerative. The life expectancy of patients with ALS varies, but is generally short and riddled with devestating loss. The patient with ALS remains cognitively intact, yet loses the ability to walk, speak, and perform physical tasks. Essentially, the patient is held captive within their own body.

Hawking was initially given a life expectancy of two years. This expectancy was given in the year 1964 and as of 2015, Hawking is still alive.

Redmayne and Jones as The Hawkings on their wedding day.

The Theory of Everything featured Eddie Redmayne as young Hawking and Felicity Jones as his wife Jane. The acting from both leads is superb. The story of their relationship is unlike your traditional tale due largely to both Hawking's incredible brilliance as well as his challenging disability. The story is gripping, especially because Hawking's legacy and the majority of what is known about his life is based upon his education and career. This peek into his personal life comes courtesy of Jane's memoir, Traveling to Infinity, My Life With Stephen giving it much more credibility than your average Hollywood interpretation of a person.

The film is definitely a glimpse into the personal life of Hawking, rather than focusing on his most famous achievements. For me, as a person who loves being able to learn more about the personal lives of prominent figures, I found this movie to be interesting and filled with strong performances. The casting was spot on, Redmayne does an incredibly well delivered depiction of what it means to become progressively weaker as with ALS.

Overall, if the topic is one that interests you, I would recommend watching The Theory of Everything.