Catching Up: The Theory of Everything

Generally, I don't review films outside the year of their theatrical run. However, as The Theory of Everything has been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, I've decided to break my usual rule and give my thoughts on it. In summary: Often poignant, even more often funny, but its loose structure often makes the film feel interminable.

In The Theory of Everything, Eddie Raymane plays Stephen Hawking as he increasingly suffers from motor neuron disease. The film doesn't have an overarching plot so much as a series of events which it adapts to the screen, This approach, unfortunately, gives large chunks of the film a feeling of not actually leading up to anything, which means that stretches of the film seem endless. It's not that the content of these scenes is bad, as many of the film's good qualities do shine through in the less interesting sequences, but still, some parts of the film drag on for far too long without any direction, which comes from how the screenplay resorts to just retelling things that happened half the time. What we're seeing on-screen is still entertaining or affecting in its own right, but that doesn't make for compelling storytelling.

That's not to say that the film is boring, though. This is a drama that recognizes the need for a good sense of humour, and while it never had the feel of a comedy, I did find myself often laughing at the jokes in the film. A drama can get boring if it has too much of a serious tone without the weight or intensity to back it up, and while The Theory of Everything is more lightweight than films which can pull off an entirely serious tone, it realizes that putting humour in the right places can keep an audience more interested than they might be without it. 

That's not to say that the film's drama isn't effective, because it is. A nice balance is struck between Stephen's work, his personal life, and his disease, and ultimately it's the latter that's picked as the focus of the film. As Stephen, degenerates, especially in the middle parts of the movie, it's personally affecting because the first part of the movie did the hard work of making us grow to feel a connection with him, but it's also affecting because we see how it impacts both himself and those around him. In particular, we see the impact on his wife, Jane, played by Felicity Jones, who does a solid job in the role. In fact, all the film's actors do a good job, though Jones and Raymane stand out. Jones is able to carry Jane's more emotional scenes, while Raymane does an uncanny impression of Stephen, which is especially impressive when he's imitating Stephen's disease, as he's able to emote in a manner that feels natural for someone suffering from such. 

However, with this being a biopic and therefore having a true story for people to be aware of beforehand, some scenes are robbed of their impact due to prior knowledge of the outcome. In particular, any scene where people are worried about Stephen dying loses a little weight due to the fact that, well, he's still alive today. This is worked around by the filmmakers not putting too much emphasis on the fear of Stephen's depth and instead looking at how he subverted expectations, which proves far more interesting. 

A bigger issue is the generic soundtrack, which supports the heavier moments well enough but is distractingly twee in the lighter moments. After a while you get used to it, but at the start it can be really annoying. Still, it's not a particularly big gripe, and is easily ignored. 

The Theory of Everything isn't the strongest film nominated for the Best Picture award, but it's still a solid-if flawed-effort that portrays a fascinating man. Its sense of humour and its poignant themes carry it above your average Oscar bait into the territory of high-quality Oscar bait, which is of course a good thing. It's also interesting to see Stephen's response to it, so look that up if you can. 

7/10