Actors portraying Stephen and Jane Hawking early in their relationship.
--- Big spoilers below! ---
I teared up at the movie, I’ll admit. Early on too. Right around when Stephen Hawking, played by Eddie Redmayne, was in an early relationship with his future wife Jane, played by Felicity Jones (Of Rebel One fame!). It was a tear of knowing what will ultimately happen to Stephen in the future. (The exact scene pictured above.)
The Theory of Everything is the story of Stephen Hawking from his college days to almost present time. Like my reaction above, we all know what happens.
The spiral into the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease is definitely the focus in this film. What that means for family, friends, children and the world is not as realistic and hard-hitting as I was expecting. Since the film only brushes on Stephen Hawking’s scientific contributions, I was expecting the rest of his life to be a bit more covered. However, for those who are not familiar with his career, the film will surly educate “enough.” Although this thought is subjective, I would fully expect a lot of inspiration fostered by the journey. Simply put, much is possible even in the face of such a hurdle.
(LEFT) The real Stephen and Jane Hawking. (RIGHT) Redmayne and Jones playing the roll. (via achieve, REX)
Since this movie is based on Jane Wilde Hawking’s book “Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen,” a huge focus is on Stephen’s relationship(s) and family life. The unflinching love between Jane and Stephen is shaken by the disease’s progress, as one could imagine. They condensed 30 years down in this telling. Tested, tossed aside, and brought back together, and everything in-between is quite faithful to real life. Yes, Stephen leave’s Jane for another woman around the time he loses his voice. We are all truly human.
They do skip the segment that Stephen’s new wife ended up being abusive. However, I suppose Jane wouldn’t know that completely. (Stephen did leave his second wife some eleven years later with no children between them. Much of that relationship is quiet.)
Moving back to the story.
What I found to be a happy surprise was the treatment of Hawking’s contribution that made him famous to his peers – Hawking radiation. In the simplest sense, black holes emit radiation until they exhaust their energy and eventually evaporate.
(Let me give a shot at explaining that. As a particle and anti-particle come into existence at the event horizon of a black hole, one of the pair might get sucked into the gravity well. The other now exists, but only if it takes energy from the black hole itself to come into being. That tiny bit of energy, over time, over countless instances would eventually evaporate the black hole. But even this is a simple way of explaining it, but my best shot at it.)
I liked how they showed people being outraged by this concept, and how Hawking dealt with it. Though I am sure it didn’t go down like that, it’s vindicating to watch. For the record, this discovery by Hawking is accepted by most as a breakthrough.
What I found most moving was the last line of the movie, which I will not share here. It’s powerful from a human sense. Something a lot of us can relate to. It leaves me thinking, what is the most important mark we will leave in history?
It’s a 4.2 out of 5 for me! (I am thinking of increasing my precision in review up to two decimal places. Maybe next time.)
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My first reaction at the end of the film was, “What did Stephen Hawking think of it?”
Luckily, that answer was an easy find. He talks about it briefly on Facebook.
Stephen Hawking said about the film:
I thought Eddie Redmayne portrayed me very well in The Theory of Everything Movie. He spent time with ALS sufferers so he could be authentic. At times, I thought he was me.
Seeing the film has given me the opportunity to reflect on my life. Although I'm severely disabled, I have been successful in my scientific work. I travel widely and have been to Antarctica and Easter Island, down in a submarine and up on a zero gravity flight. One day I hope to go into space.
I've been privileged to gain some understanding of the way the universe operates through my work. But it would be an empty universe indeed without the people that I love. -SH