½
UK 2014
Starts December 25, 2014
Directed by: James Marsh
Writing credits: Anthony McCarten, Jane Hawking
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Harry Lloyd, Charlie Cox, Maxine Peake, David Thewlis, Emily Watson
Length: 123 minutes
With finesse and sensitivity, director James Marsh (Man on Wire 2008) realizes Jane Hawking’s novel, Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen. Their beguiling story begins at an Oxford student party in 1963 Cambridge, England when Jane Ward meets the “strange” Stephen. Then, the unexpected diagnosis of motor neuron disease, with its two-year life expectancy verdict, plummets the 21-year old Stephen in to despair. Smitten with Jane, her determination supersedes his, and everyone concerned, trepidations. Jane pushes boundaries in Stephen’s personal life, while his doctoral supervisor challenges his academic prowess; throughout, Hawking never looses his quirky, questioning humor. Together, and with the help of family and friends, Hawking – the celebrated theoretical physicist and cosmologist – “defies every expectation.”
Marsh’s formidable, astutely exhilarating look into the lives of two unordinary peoples’ impact on one another and the world is favored with remarkable, dynamic performances from Eddie Redmayne (Stephen) and Felicity Jones (Jane). Redmayne is viscerally, extraordinarily convincing, just as Jones’ portrayal of delicate mettle is spot-on. David Thewlis as Hawking’s doctoral supervisor, Harry Lloyd as Hawking’s close friend, and Charlie Cox as their friend Jonathan merit recognition. Benoît Delhomme’s spectacular cinematography penetrates the cosmos and our consciences, Jinx Godfrey edits powerfully, and Jóhann Jóhannsson’s music whisks us through their three-decade marriage. This biopic manages to unify Hawking’s scientific findings—about our universe’s beginning, albeit in layman language—and how hope, steeped in love and trust, can bear out astonishing results. “While there is life, there is hope.” ()