THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING directed by James Marsh, written by Anthony McCarten based on the book by Jane Hawking, with Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Charlie Cox and Emily Watson. An eOne release. 123 minutes. Opens Friday (November 7). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNN
Director James Marsh takes the remarkable, complex story of theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and imprisons it in the inspirational treacle of a disease-of-the-week movie about a young couple struggling with life-altering illness.
Adapted as cloyingly as possible from Jane Hawking’s autobiography, it has no time for Hawking’s work (He Dazzled His Peers! He Wrote A Bestseller!) or for the very real hardships Stephen and Jane faced over their decades of marriage.
Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones make it worth watching, grounding their relationship in anguished good humour, but Anthony McCarten’s script sees them only as noble sufferers waiting for the next challenge.
