The Theory of Everything

Director: James Marsh

Year: 2014

Biopics are difficult animals by nature. How can one tell an accurate story of even the most ordinary life in two hours of screen time? How much of any aspect will the Director focus on? Who was this person? What was his effect on those closest to him and the world at large?

To the latter question, Stephen Hawking’s effect on the world, there is no doubt. His ideas on time and our universe, captured first and, perhaps, most famously in his book “A Brief History of Time”, is a classic that is still a hot cornerstone of debate.

So, the question becomes, where do we cut in to Hawking’s life? Director James Marsh leads us in to a time both nostalgic and undefined. The opening shot is sepia-toned, out of focus and falls from the sky. We see a few adult and child figures all moving near or around a wheelchair-bound Hawking. This is the Hawking I am most familiar with.

The sound of a bicycle chain leads us back to 1963 during Hawking’s time as a PhD student at Cambridge University. It is geek chic for the era and, as often happens with young men, the attention is shifted toward women. Instead of the story of Hawking’s science, is this a story of love? What about a conflict with a competitive fellow student or bitter professor? The nature of God’s relationship with man (including the debate of his very existence), shaped through a science versus faith argument serves as a motif visited several times. As the love story grows it becomes more complex and intriguing.

But herein lies the problem: Marsh never really comes to a place where he ties all of what he lays out together. The overarching idea of time is certainly a central theme and the closest to what I can figure to call “the” central theme. But the narrative of the film doesn’t support it. While there are a great many wonderful scenes the takeaway from the film is, as perhaps the opening suggests with its out of focus shots, a bit fuzzy. The simplest takeaway would be “love conquers all”. And there’s nothing wrong with the old favorite, as the very solid film “Still Alice” shows, that theme still works just fine. But, because of who Hawking is, it left me a bit wanting for more contextualization of why he is who he is and what he thinks about the theory of everything.

This is no small task and Marsh makes an effort in a few scenes to bring simplicity and clarity to Hawking’s brilliance which is, no doubt, far beyond the average person’s comprehension. The fact that the source material is Jane Hawking’s book, “Travelling to Infinity: My life with Stephen” clarified a lot of this. Perhaps that should have been part of the setup rather than left for the end title credits to better set expectations. Eddie Redmayne’s performance has earned favorable nods to Daniel Day Lewis’ Oscar-winning performance in “My Left Foot” for good reason. Felicity Jones is lovely and charming as Jane Hawking. The whole cast is excellent as are the sets and costumes.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the film, except the fact that it’s a biopic and in that, it might serve the story to be a bit more focused and revelatory, particularly with a subject of Hawking’s stature.   

Resonance Rating: 3.5 out of 5