If you are thinking of spending the cold winter night actually watching something useful for a change, The Theory of Everything is worth the time it struggles so hard to explore.
As the 2014 rehash of the 2004 Hawking, it is definitely much bolder, more controversial, and definitely much more realistic. Although the movie 'Hawking' focused more on singularity as the greatest discovery of Stephen Hawking, The Theory of Everything on the other hand proves it wrong and only displays the idiosyncrasies of Stephen Hawking's own mind as it ages over the years.
Unlike the Big Bang Theory which Stephen Hawking uses to prove that the universe had a beginning, The Theory of Everything postulates that there can be some other explanation to the existence of the universe besides God, though it does not completely turn God out of the equation. This only further solidifies the hold of the evolutionist's narrative on the media.
But too much focus on the romance between Stephen and his wife Jane, digresses the viewer from the main point. The Theory of Everything seems to be less of a biopic and more of an exploration of Hawking’s love pursuits. Sadly, the movie fails to live by its name; it hardly delves deep into the ‘theory’ that the movie should have revolved around.
Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) falls in love with a literature student, Jane (Felicity Jones), and everything goes fine and dandy until he is diagnosed with a motor neuron disease at the age of 21. He's got only two years to live. Hawking is left devastated, but the only thing he's worried about is his brain, which his doctor ensures will be left untouched. With the unflinching support of his wife Jane, he beats all odds.
But as Stephen's body weakens and he is rendered unable to speak, the stress of his marital relationship with Jane becomes clear. After all, every wife wants a normal husband with a normal life. And so no matter how strong Jane tries to stay in the start, she ultimately breaks, and finds solace in her piano teacher, Jonathan Hellyer Jones (Charlie Cox). Hawking later communicates with everyone using a computerized voice and remains gifted with his sharp mind which leads him to write the book 'A Brief History of Time'.
The movie is actually an adaptation of the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Wilde Hawking who writes about her relationship with her ex-husband, Stephen Hawking, from the diagnosis of his motor neuron disease to his success in physics. This explains why the movie focused more on the chemistry between Stephen & Jane Hawking rather than on the physics of the universe. The astrophysics geeks are in for a major disappointment.
But the awe of the theory itself coupled with some very powerful acting and cinematography makes the movie definitely worth watching. Perhaps in way, the best part of the movie is that you don't have to be a science nerd to finally understand a seemingly scientific movie. Whether it does justice to the genius that Stephen Hawking is, should be totally another matter.
Mehreen Omer is a digital media scientist, a movie buff and a cultural critic. Follow her on Twitter