Theory of Everything (2014)

[K1stpierre]

Discuss

[ChD]

He did it. The little one did it!

 

Basically, this movie is amazing and Redmayne's performance is one to be remembered for quite some time.

 

A

[CoolioD1]

Eh. A Beautiful Mind meets My Left Foot. I don't mind some oscar bait but this is just lazy. It rushes through moments that it feels like it should linger on, like his relationship with the nurse. I would've preferred the movie if it was all from the perspective of jane because it's clear the filmmakers were trying to make a love story over a science story, it feels like they really didn't care about the science stuff. Redmayne was good. Jones was great. cinematography was bleh.

[Ezen Baklattan]

Redmayne and Jones are both fantastic (in remarkably subtle ways, too, especially Jones), and there are a ton of really touching and heartfelt moments in this (some unexpected humor as well), but at the end of the day, it feels somewhat like a paint-by-numbers Oscar bait picture. I feel like it also struggles with a common pitfall for several biopics: a lack of clear focus. The love story, science story, and disease story all kind of eat into each other and neither gets enough oomph, and it causes the picture to feel somewhat bloated. At times, I honestly felt like I was watching a TV movie. 

 

It's worth seeing for two great performances, but don't expect too much more.

[The Panda]

I'll be honest, I went into this wanting to hate it, wanting to call it out for it being a giant pile of Oscar bait.  I wanted to call it out for being yet another safe, exploitative biopic vying for Oscar consideration with over the top performances, and this movie really, truly earned my love.  If this is repetitive Oscar bait so be it, it had me at the verge of tears for nearly the whole movie, and not for being dramatic, but for being so completely subtle.  While no, this is definitely not a perfect movie, and there are times where it feels like the pace is moving a little to briskly, but then again isn't that time?  His honeymoon moments at the beginning are all so brief in the story its telling and I do believe that is in and of itself a small point to be made.  The movie strives to be a lot (And to be a movie about Hawking it really has to incorporate all of those elements, they worked what needed to be worked), and it mostly achieves them.  Yes, some of the beats aren't earned, but so many others are truly earned.  

 

As for performances, Redmayne and Jones are both captivating and my earlier doubts of their Oscar nominee chances have been extinguished.  What I really loved was that there were no scenes in which I felt like the two were screaming, "Give me an Oscar," like many awards candidates do, they were completely honest.  Redmayne certainly doesn't surpass Keaton's performance in Birdman, it really impressed me, I was not expecting that out of him.

 

The score is also very pleasant and one of the better ones I have heard this year.

 

Overall, this was possibly one of the biggest surprises of the year for me.

A-/A

[CloneWars]

Good film. Well made. Still Oscar bait. Keaton gave the better performance but Redmayne was good. I expect he will win Best Actor soon and would have won almost any other year. I did enjoy the movie though, but it felt a lot like A Beautiful Mind. Would love a little more science.

[Empire]

Watch this and I liked it, but didn't love it. It really did feel almost like a paint by numbers biopic. What makes standout slightly above that is Redmayne & Jones' performances. They were both great.

I would give it a....

B(87)

[Webslinger]

In regard to its story, The Theory of Everything could be dubbed "The Stephen Hawking Show;" in regard to its quality, "The Eddie Redmayne Show" would be a very appropriate moniker. Although there are other points of merit in the film, Redmayne's performance is by far the biggest triumph. He has shown promise in previous roles, but he outdoes himself with a remarkable physical portrayal of Hawking that also very gracefully and subtly communicates emotional and intellectual information that the character is unable to verbally communicate throughout most of the second half of the film. Redmayne certainly earns the accolades that have been heaped upon the performance. Unfortunately, there's really nothing else in the movie that can match up to it. Felicity Jones is very good at portraying the quiet strength of Hawking's wife, and she makes the most of a meatier role and more screen time than the average supportive wife in this type of biopic, even if she doesn't leave as lasting of an impression as Redmayne. There's enough content on their romantic life to fill out the two-hour running time, but it comes at the expense of exploring Hawking's ideas and processes in greater depth, which is a bit of a shame considering that the film is at its most fascinating when it looks into how Hawking thinks, and how he adjusts as ALS continues to take its toll on his body (especially considering what we ultimately learn about the marriage near the end of the film). Any criticism of the film as "A Beautiful Mind Lite" is neither unfair nor inaccurate, but despite storytelling shortcomings, it succeeds on the back of superb acting.

 

B+

[filmlover]

Consider me surprised, I liked this quite a bit better than I thought I would heading in. It's sentimental, to be sure, but I found myself highly won over by the characters and how the story unfolded. The best thing about the film is definitely Eddie Redmayne, who gives a phenomenal performance as Stephen Hawking. It's a very physical performance that echoes Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot; Redmayne could've easily let his spot-on resemblance to the man do the work, but he fills the part with spirit and emotion. His excellent work is complimented by a lovely performance from Felicity Jones, who imbues Jane (who gets as much screentime, perhaps not a surprise considering the film was based on her memoir) with determination and care. Like most biopics, it runs into the trap in which it has to cram so many key moments (while skipping over a couple) within a two hour time constraint. But with such a stellar lead performance, the movie will be difficult to forget. B+

[Kvikk Lunsj]

I liked the movie. The acting is good. 

3.5/5

[Jack Nevada]

Good Movie.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Jack Nevada

[RobinHood26]

B- (82)

Edited January 5, 2015 by Jay Hollywood

[Joel M]

and how he adjusts as ALS continues to take its toll on his body (especially considering what we ultimately learn about the marriage near the end of the film). 

 

What we learn? I might have missed that.

[Goffe]

Redmayne was just out of this world amazing, I still haven't seen the other actors performances,  but it will be pretty hard to beat him at the Oscars. Jones was good too. Great score.

 

It's definitly a tearjerker film, the begining and the ending had me like this

 

 

but a good chunk of the film was just not interesting, maybe because it lacked a clear focus like a poster already said, feeling a bit bloated.

 

75/100

[Goffe]

He did it. The little one did it!

 

that was literally the worst scene in the movie, so so bad.

[luna]

lol.

 

yeah, the main performance was pretty good.

 

i don't know wtf was going on with the push-and-pull between god and physics. it was fucking stupid anyway.

 

3.8/10

Edited January 26, 2015 by lisa

[Leyla]

I'll be honest, I went into this wanting to hate it, wanting to call it out for it being a giant pile of Oscar bait.  I wanted to call it out for being yet another safe, exploitative biopic vying for Oscar consideration with over the top performances, and this movie really, truly earned my love.  If this is repetitive Oscar bait so be it, it had me at the verge of tears for nearly the whole movie, and not for being dramatic, but for being so completely subtle.  While no, this is definitely not a perfect movie, and there are times where it feels like the pace is moving a little to briskly, but then again isn't that time?  His honeymoon moments at the beginning are all so brief in the story its telling and I do believe that is in and of itself a small point to be made.  The movie strives to be a lot (And to be a movie about Hawking it really has to incorporate all of those elements, they worked what needed to be worked), and it mostly achieves them.  Yes, some of the beats aren't earned, but so many others are truly earned.  

 

As for performances, Redmayne and Jones are both captivating and my earlier doubts of their Oscar nominee chances have been extinguished.  What I really loved was that there were no scenes in which I felt like the two were screaming, "Give me an Oscar," like many awards candidates do, they were completely honest.  Redmayne certainly doesn't surpass Keaton's performance in Birdman, it really impressed me, I was not expecting that out of him.

 

The score is also very pleasant and one of the better ones I have heard this year.

 

Overall, this was possibly one of the biggest surprises of the year for me.

A-/A

pretty mch my thoughts! (expressed with better english) except I knew Im gonna like it before I saw it 

 

Eddie deserves the love/awards he's getting no matter what the haters say. 

 

Yes very sappy & a in a way a typical 'Working title' feature which I liked

I can see why people diminish it & call average etc. but I was truly immersed in what happens onscreen even if it just mostly Jane/Hawking drama & maybe not enough of science & all

Eddie & Felicity had terrific chem & for a person who wasnt aware of the rl aspects of Hawking's life the movie's plot wasnt boring at all (I personally was surprised she had an affiar with Cox' character. it went against the 'supporting wife' scenario)  

 

& cant stress enough how I liked this much more than TIG 

Edited January 27, 2015 by Lady of Lorien

[JohnnY]

The Theory of Everything is an example of boring british biopic that at least manages to grab your attention and accomplish something, but what is this movie trying to accomplish? It's so dull that I don't even care about it enough to dislike it, it's the perfect definition of an oscar bait.

 

Too many cute slightly blurred scenes by the sound of an over-used score. And don't get me wrong, I liked the scored, I've listened to the full album 3 or 4 times, but the way they used it in the movie was just too much, it's was like LISTEN!!! LISTEN TO THIS BEAUTIFUL MUSIC!!!

 

 

50/100

[Travod]

I'd consider it slightly less Oscar bait formulaic as The Imitation Game, but yeah. I like the other movie more. The Redmayne win is pretty much a lock though.

[sumanth]

‪#‎EddieRedmayne‬ what the fuckkk ? dude ... was thattt  ... i dint saw all the‪#‎oscarnoms‬ movies of best actor category but i'm damn sure my pick for best actor is definitely yourself ..MIND=BLOWN  .. The Theory of Everything Movie ..my rating for the movie is 7.5/10
.and for eddie's acting it is .. 10/10 ..... im damn sure that this guy will take the oscar      

Edited February 9, 2015 by sumanth