The Theory of Everything

[Primula Baggins]

I've had them not go through, too.

[Smaug's voice]

I saw this film recently.
And while I'd have preferred a little less romance and a little more science, it's a thoroughly engrossing movie.
I was close to tears at several occasions (and I ain't really a crying-type of cinemagoer).
Redman really owns the role and it might also turn out to be the most significant role of his career. I haven't seen any of the other best actor contender films of this year, but it'll take a lot to beat this guy.

[Passdagas the Brown]

Redmayne was a force. By far one of the best performances I have seen in a very long time. A career-defining role.

Too bad he was let down by scriptwriters/ filmmakers who were more interested in the theory of love triangles than the theory of everything. Instead of illuminating the creative and sometimes chaotic process of theoretical physics, it boils it all down to awfully bland (and swift) cliches, so that it can move onto the far more important question of "will she get with her choir teacher?" which takes up almost half the film.

Like SV, I teared up a number of times. I was moved and inspired. But just when I thought the film would reach a height, it would come crashing down into the mud and banality of every other Hollywood romance. By the time we were inter-cutting between a fateful hospitalization and a scene of infidelity, I had checked out. If one didn't know anything about Hawking, and watched this film, this is what they would learn: "Boy, this guy had a crummy life, but he's like, really smart! I know that because of that scene of him writing an equation on a board..."

But someone hand Redmayne his Oscar now. Noone's going to beat him (though Felicity Jones comes close...).

[Smaug's voice]

I don't disagree with that.
But since the movie was adapted from a book by Jane Hawking and deals with his personal life more than his scientific theories, I expected it. Though, as I said, some more science would have been great.

I read somewhere that upon watching te film, Hawking said it helped him reflect on his entire life so far.

PS: Felicity Jones doesn't really come close to Redmayne's acting genius here, but she was still excellent. (and so were the rest of the cast)

[Passdagas the Brown]

True, but Jane Hawking treats Stephen Hawking's intellectual pursuits during her time with him in great detail. The film boils this down to writing equations on a blackboard and realizing that black holes leak radiation by staring at a fire... It's very banal, conventional "lone genius" Hollywood stuff, and made me believe that Ron Howard had secretly directed it. Science is far more intense and collaborative than that.

In any case, I would also feel compelled to think about the choices I made in my personal life if a film spent a lot of time raking over those coals. But I imagine Hawking would have appreciated a less shorthand version of the scientific process.

Lastly, why does it take this kind of almost soap opera-ish material (understanding that a lot of it actually happened) to make a film about a scientist's life? Has it been decided by a Hollywood committee that the exploration of the fundamentals of the universe is ultimately too boring for a general public?

Perhaps I have too much faith in the intelligence of the broader public, but I still believe that filmmakers need to stop talking down to everyone.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Perhaps I have too much faith in the intelligence of the broader public

*Crosses 'Jonathan Gruber' off the list of candidates of "who PtB is in real life"*

[yovargas]

Has it been decided by a Hollywood committee that the exploration of the fundamentals of the universe is ultimately too boring for a general public?

Yes.

[Passdagas the Brown]

Darn it!

[Inanna]

Has it been decided by a Hollywood committee that the exploration of the fundamentals of the universe is ultimately too boring for a general public?

Yes.

Wise Hippo.


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Please bear with my typos & grammar mistakes. Sent from my iPhone - Palantirs make mistakes too.