The Theory of Everything Review

Grade: B+
One-Liner: A heartbreaking work of staggering genius.

I knew going into The Theory of Everything that the acting would be impeccable and the story would be inevitably moving, but I didn't anticipate such stunning cinematography would accompany the tale of Stephen Hawking. From the creative camera work to idyllic scenery of Cambridge, the biopic was beautifully brought to life by director James Marsh.

As for the acting, you couldn't ask for a better team than Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as Stephen and his wife Jane. Together the two navigated the emotional rollercoaster of their relationship, Stephen's deteriorating physical condition, and the life they build together (and apart). Redmayne mastered the physicality of Hawkings' disease, not breaking character once. It's easy to recreate an image or a book cover, but to hold the mannerisms throughout the movie proved a true feat. He also managed to inject personality and humor into a character that spent much of the film with impaired speech before he became mute.

Jones proved even more impressive as the loyal and strong Jane. Her reactions to the tragedies going on around her brought out the majority of the film's raw emotion. Considering the adaptation was based of the real-life Jane's book, it was easy to connect with her and understand her choices. But she also didn't turn her ex-husband's future wife into a villain. Every decision they made regarding their marriage was carefully explained and justified, and you never questioned their love for one another.

While it was beautifully executed and the performances were certainly award-worthy, The Theory of Everything faltered a bit in its storytelling. For a film about a man who devoted his life to studying time, director James Marsh did a poor job of showing the audience how much time had actually passed. All you could point to was Jane's increasingly poor hairstyles, and even those could have only been over the course of year.

It would seem that the Hawkings' children should have played a bigger role so audiences could have watched them grow up as a way of passing the time. But they were featured sparingly and without real purpose. We also jumped from the devastating diagnosis that Hawking only had two years to live to him surviving decades with no real explanation or comment, belittling the severity of his initial prognosis.

Time will tell if The Theory of Everything will take home any Oscars, but it has already solidified a promising future for its two stars.