The appeal of this film is a bit like the The Imitation Game, marvelling at an odd genius. There's a further connection in that the 2004 BBC TV Movie about Stephen Hawking stars Benedict Cumberbatch. That film only goes as far 1978 and ends with Hawking's big bang theory being vindicated. The new movie takes us up to the present day, with lots more wheelchair scenes and Hawking's U-turn about black holes not being so black. And whereas the old film focuses on the scientific debate between different theories (with Hawking memorably debunking bluff Yorkshireman Fred Hoyle), the new film is a tearjerker with conflicts of the heart.
At the start Hawking is a bumbling graduate in charming Cambridge. He's a bit shy but meets Jane and they have a bit of banter about croquet and God then get married and have kids and some montages. The montages are presented as shaky and low-resolution exactly as if they've been filmed with an old videocamera, which is a bit confusing as I don't think anyone really was filming. As Hawking deteriorates Jane meets a hunky choirmaster and there's a bit of tension there, then Hawking surprises everyone by running off with his nurse.
There's a recurring theme of Hawking trying to find his big theory uniting the physics of the tiny and massive. This pursuit of a unifying theory is actually something much more associated with Einstein, who tried for years to unify the forces of nature (and failed). I think the reason for the film stressing a grand theory is to build up the moment at the end where Hawking has a little out of body experience then says that his philosophy is that the human spirit is uncrushable and "where there's hope there's life". He gets a standing ovation.
The director James Marsh has previously made the documentaries Project Nim and Man on Wire, and this film is a good case study not so much of Hawkings life but that of his wife Jane, who has an increasingly tough time (in fact the film is based on her memoirs). The leads Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones are both excellent, and I also enjoyed all the Cambridge Professors, particularly the character Roger Penrose, who is my favourite living mathematician. It's a very nicely made movie and was enjoyable from start to finish.
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