Having read A Brief History of Time somewhere over a year-long astronomical reading binge not too long ago along with watching Netflix’s streaming of Stephen Hawking’s television series Into the Universe, I became acquainted with the cosmologist and his black hole studies—who, by reading his work, you would never know was someone battling Lou Gehrig’s disease.
In James Marsh’s (Man on Wire) The Theory of Everything the other side of the scientist’s life is portrayed by Eddie Redmayne (a heartthrob among us all!) from the beginning turning points of his academic and professional career to the love at first sight story of him and Jane (Felicity Jones), though the film in its entirety focuses more on his private life than any sort of science—but the overall themes are always circling back to the scientific wit of Hawking.
Redmayne seemingly effortlessly blends perfectly into a young Hawking starting from where it all began, where he was nonchalantly is obtaining his PhD at the prestigious Oxford University among a small group of brilliant like-minded folk personally choosing “Time” as his subject.
And of course, smart young ladies know to go after these boys. “Scientists!” the girls exclaim, as they are on the prowl at some University shenanigan. Hawking ties eyes with a young Jane and the next thing you know the two are riding carousels in England like some sort of fairy tale couple, which makes the rest of the story so freaking sad (I was seriously sobbing 1/2 of the two hours and three minutes).
If you are unapologetic about crying in movie theaters and are OK with getting emo, you might want to bring with you a few tissues (OK, a whole entire box), for The Theory of Everything is an intense emotional ride seeing the gradual deterioration that comes with the inevitable effects of the gradual progression of Lou Gehrig’s through Stephen Hawking’s incredible story.
For a person who was given only two years to live at one point upon his initial diagnosis, Hawking—still alive and working and working—it goes to show that though there are miracles in this life, particularly those who have extraordinary minds meant to change the world.
The Theory of Everything is, well, it’s everything. Go see it.
