The Theory of Everything - Film review

Release date: 1^st January 2015

Top Billing: Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones

It starts as Stephen and Jane meet at Cambridge. Maybe a little awkward at first glance but they become close friends and it quickly develops into something more. Stephen initially shows an odd tremor in his hand, the way he carries himself is a little off, though it is only taken seriously when he takes a terrible fall. Once tests are completed, he is told he has two years maximum to live and there is nothing that can be done.

Rather than run away, Jane becomes his rock and the marry knowing that time is not on their side. He slowly deteriorates, first finding it hard to walk and then in a wheelchair, even unable to breath. As time goes on Jane begins to lose her spirit and her mother advices her to join the church choir just to remove herself from the situation for an hour a week.

There she meets Jonathan who kindly agrees to help the whole family, yet however harmless it begins, feelings grow. A rift is opened within the relationship but when Stephen is in trouble she races to his side, and demands that he is operated on even when the doctor suggests that letting him go would be better. Time moves on and the couple separate but stay great friends as his career hits new heights.

This was a really good film. Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones are great as Stephen and Jane, and I couldn’t help but immediately sympathise with the two lead characters. As you can tell from the story it doesn’t concentrate on his illness rather on the relationship, however you can’t get away from his condition. Watching him slowly slip away from Jane was hard to watch. He seemed rarely to let it get to him though that may have been more because the screenplay was based on a book Jane wrote so you tend to see things from her point of view.

I would think that most people know his story but it is brought into clear focus with this film and I couldn’t help but be surprised that they only gave him two years and nearly 50 years on he is still going. The film may have put a little gloss on the couple but you can’t fail to really feel for both of them.