A triumph as a drama that fails to impress as a biopic
By Tejas Nair
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
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| The Theory of Everything (2014) - By James Marsh |
IMDb Ratings: 7.8
Genre: Biography | Drama | Romance
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior
Country: UK
Country: UK
Language: English | French
Runtime: 123 min
Color: Color
As much as I dislike the title of
this film for inappropriateness, I liked Eddie Redmayne’s portrayal as Stephen
Hawking. And the degree of both is just above average.
Anthony McCarten may have had
plenty of headaches while writing this romantic drama under the disguise of a
biography, because how large a gimmick is the story, the same goes for director
James Marsh in building the setup. They should have had gone back in time,
defying their subject scientist’s theory, and pondered upon how to create an
adaptation of a memoir which seems partly biographical and mostly a novella. I
haven’t read the memoir and nor do I intend to, but the main problem with this
apparently inspiring film is that it focuses more on the personal lives of
Professor Hawking and his ex-wife. While that be it, the thing that fuels this
problem into a wildfire is that the audience think of it as just not a romantic
drama (like the synopsis suggests), but actually an upright biography about the
cosmologist.
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| Eddie Redmayne as Stephen and Felicity Jones as Jane |
To an extent, even director James
Marsh (whose Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire, about Philippe Petit’s
daredevil act, failed to gather traction; Robert Zemeckis’ upcoming film “The
Walk” deals with the same subject) tries to sweep it off as a romantic drama.
The ounces of insights into the professor’s study and his theories can be found
only in the background, thus nullifying the whole shindig. As a romantic drama,
I started loathing a few characters, which if I disclose might make you loathe
me as well; characters which can be found in a string of romantic dramas over
the past decades.
As a biography, which it
sometimes pretends to be, The Theory of Everything shuns science which is
ironic. Eddie Redmayne is fabulous, although he may slip by with only an Oscar
nod. Felicity Jones is sweet and so were the supporting actors, who would have
had bigger roles to act if this were not a genre confusing tide.
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| A Still from James Marsh's The Theory of Everything |
The cinematography is fine, and
so is the music, the latter of which tries to support the apparent inspiration
inducing characteristic I was talking about. All said and done, the film never
quite bores you, always engaging us with short sequences that describe as to
what really happened since 1963. Had they exploited 5 minutes of the 120 minute
narration to explain his disease, I would have jumped up in my chair.
BOTTOM LINE: The Theory of
Everything is a non-self-deprecating drama that takes its viewers on a
canoe-ride into the lives of the great Stephen Hawking and second-rate Jane
Hawking. A drama so good and a biopic so bad that if one wanted to learn
about the scientist’s theories, one should read his books instead!
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
About Author -
Tejas Nair is a writer, film critic, and Engineer from Mumbai, India. When he is not watching films and reviewing them on IMDb, he can either be found reading or blogging. Sidney Lumet’s “12 Angry Men” is his favorite film. Tejas blogs at nairtejas.wordpress.com.
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your feedback is highly appreciated!
For more information on the title, please click on the following links:
The Theory of Everything (2014) Trailer
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your feedback is highly appreciated!
For more information on the title, please click on the following links:
The Theory of Everything (2014) Trailer
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