I have seen a few documentaries and dramas about Stephen Hawking, and even managed to finish his book A Brief History of Time. And obviously he is the most famous living scientist... so we already know quite a lot about him before seeing The Theory of Everything.
What makes this film different though is that it is based on the memoirs of his first wife Jane, played by Felicity Jones. Quite noticeably it focusses on the Hawking family and how they coped with Stephen's illness. The scientific bits are pretty minimal.
That works well for me. It's not like you are going to get much insight into general relativity and quantum theory from a feature film...
...and the process of endlessly thinking about a unifying theory, working through the maths painfully slowly with colleagues, wouldn't be much of a watch either.
Somehow though I felt we were getting a rose tinted picture of Stephen Hawking. A brilliant man cruelly struck down by motor neuron disease. Battling on. We didn't see him get frustrated and angry apart from just after the diagnosis... until Jane sorted him out.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure life was very hard for Jane looking after Stephen, a home and 3 children. But I think it would have been better to see a few rows and tantrums too... since I find it hard to believe there weren't any.
Of course you can pick holes in the film's historical accuracy as much as you like. This is a drama and it works up to a point. Eddie Redmayne carries off the lead role very well, and I'm sure he'll be a strong challenger for the Oscar. There's nothing wrong with any of the characters, really. The film is beautifully shot... etc, etc.
But, for all I did like about it, ultimately this feels like a fairy story. Jane is just too damned nice. Stephen is a saint and a genius. Even when he leaves Jane it is hinted at rather than confronted. And in the end they make friends and visit the Queen.
Screenplay by Jane Austen, or one of the Brontes?
Dare I say it... maybe more of a film for the ladies. [ducks]
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