By the time I post this, the Oscars will have already begun. I usually wait about a half hour to start so I can skip through the commercials and I wanted to get one more in before the wire. Counting this, I saw 25 of the 44 nominated, which is just a little better than 50%. That is pretty terrible so hopefully next year I will be better. I did manage to see seven of the 8 Best Picture nominees and I stand by my pick of Birdman. This was a great biopic, but it wasn't the best picture of the year.Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) is a doctoral student at Cambridge when he receives the medical diagnosis that would define his life. His doctor (Adam Godley) gives him a projected life expectancy of two years. This is understandably crushing but his girlfriend, Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones), urges him to remain hopeful. They marry and have three children but as Stephen's health worsens and he needs more and more care, the burdens begin to weigh heavily on Jane.
It's nominally about Stephen Hawking but the true protagonist of this story is Jane, which makes sense considering it's adapted from her memoir. Eddie Redmayne does an incredible job of becoming Stephen Hawking but Felicity Jones is the emotional anchor. I wish she had been slightly less British, however, and let us see more of the inner turmoil.
As a side note, Charlie Cox has a supporting role as Jane's choir director and eventual second husband. He is going to be Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil for Marvel's new show on Netflix, debuting April 10th. For some reason, I have a terrible time remembering his face even though I have seen him in other things. I hope he will be more memorable in Daredevil but really the only direction is up from the Ben Affleck version.
I feel like I should have more to say about The Theory of Everything but there's not that much more to it. Stephen Hawking isn't exactly an obscure figure. If you're interested in a movie about his life, you'll see this. If you're not, you probably won't.
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