The Theory of Everything (2014)

Adapted from the book written by his ex-wife Jane, The Theory of Everything tells the parallel story between the personal and the professional life of Stephen Hawking, the world famous physic known for his cosmology theories on time and universe itself. The movie follows the most comon formula of the biopic subgenre, delivering a product that is both safe and predictable in terms of form, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It is a movie open for all audiences, swinging between the visual and structure of a tv documentary and ficcional movie for theatres, placing itself somewhere in the middle, both teaching us and entertaining us. Director James Marsh's experience comes precisely from this tv line of documentaries. The Theory of Everything has another side: the inspirational story side. Unfortunately, this kind of cinema, the inspirational one, most times suffers from the syndrome of the cheesy pretentiousness and life lesson whose purpose is to tear the eyes of the common spectator. The Theory of Everything, tough, resists that label. Even if describing the hard personal life of Hawking and his wife, and the struggles of their love, the movie does a very fine job containing its emotions on the characters that feel them, leaving a welcome breath of fresh air for the audience. That is brave. Other of the hot topics about this movie, probably the one people talk about the most, is Eddie Redmayne's performance as Stephen Hawking. It is a very good performance, of course, but claiming it as the best of the year is not necessarily true. Or at least, it shouldn't. In fact, Redmayne benefits (besides from the unique character he has to work with) from the general lack of quality of 2014's American cinema. Objectively it is probable that Cumberbatch delivers the best performance of a male actor in 2014, but where would Redmayne and Cumberbatch be last year if they had to face the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor, McConaughey, DiCaprio, Bruce Dern of Christian Bale? Probably nowhere. To end it all, The Theory of Everything is nothing but a good moment of cinema, a movie that is merely competent, despite all the interesting substance it works with.

Trailer follows: