Oscar nominee Eddie Redmayne stars as renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in this poignant, revelatory biopic. Hawking's story begins in 1963 at Cambridge University, where he falls in love with Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones). Diagnosed with ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's disease) at the age of 21, the frustrated yet fiercely independent Hawking continues his cosmology studies, encouraged by his mentor (David Thewlis). Hawking's fame increases with the publication of A Brief History of Time, detailing his groundbreaking theories. Although Stephen and Jane had three children, they drift apart emotionally and Jane takes up with a choirmaster (Charlie Cox), while Stephen subsequently marries one of his nurses (Maxine Peake). Adapting Jane Hawking's memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, director James Marsh's Best Picture-nominated film reveals the complicated, sensitive man behind the genius IQ, using Hawking's own speech synthesizer to replicate his iconic voice. It's astonishing how Redmayne is able to communicate Hawking's emotions by mirroring the expressive, often mischievous movements of his eyes and eyebrows. Redmayne has already received his highest compliment from now 73-year-old Hawking, who called this extraordinary and inspirational film “broadly true,” adding that there were certain points where he thought he was watching himself. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director James Marsh, a “Becoming the Hawkings” behind-the-scenes featurette (7 min.), deleted scenes (11 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for this multiple-Oscar-nominated bio-pic.] (S. Granger)
The Theory of Everything
Universal, 124 min., PG-13, DVD: $29.98, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $34.98, Feb. 17 Volume 30, Issue 2
The Theory of Everything
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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