The Theory of Everything is the story of the most brilliant and celebrated physicist of our

time, Stephen Hawking, and Jane Wilde the arts student he fell in love with whilst
studying at Cambridge in the 1960s. Little was expected from Stephen Hawking, a bright
but shiftless student of cosmology, given just two years to live following the diagnosis of
a fatal illness at 21 years of age. He became galvanized, however, by the love of fellow
Cambridge student, Jane Wilde, and he went on to be called the successor to Einstein, as
well as a husband and father to their three children. Over the course of their marriage as
Stephen's body collapsed and his academic renown soared, fault lines were exposed that
tested the lineaments of their relationship and dramatically altered the course of both of
their lives.

*****

In early 1960s Cambridge, cosmology student Stephen Hawking meets medieval Spanish
poetry student Jane Hawking, two opposites with a mutual curiosity for each other.
Naturally, the world is at the feet of the two young dreamers, but sadly, at the age of 21,
then comes Hawking's dreadful diagnosis with ALS, an incurable progressive degenerative
motor-neuron disease. In the wake of this terrible news, with the doctors giving Stephen
only a couple of years to live, determined and loyal Jane will storm into his life, marry
him, and eventually, have three children together. But as Hawking's physical decline
weakens his frail body, his mind, on the other hand, will remain sharp, always in pursuit
of that single equation that would explain the elusive "Theory of Everything". Up until
now, Stephen Hawking who is in his mid-seventies has no plans to retire, seeking
constantly his theory.

*****

The movie starts as the Cambridge student Stephen Hawking meets Jane, and although
shy at first, eventually they both get close. Stephen soon learns about his illness and
decides to shut Jane off from his life. But Jane insists they stay together, knowing the
illness will progress and slowly take Stephen away from her. They get married soon after,
and Stephen soon graduates his doctoral study, having more interest to cosmological
physics. Jane stands by Stephen as the illness progresses, impairing his locomotion,
balance, speech and even swallowing. They have two children and Stephen's work starts
to gain spotlight. But little by little, Jane starts to lose her spirit, though she doesn't
reveal it.

Jane's mother advises her to join the church choir to help fill her spare time so she goes.
There she meets the choir's tutor Jonathan. Jonathan gets close to Jane and her family,
even with Stephen. He goes as far as being a helping hand for Stephen when the family
goes on an outdoors trip. Jane ultimately starts to feel attracted to Jonathan. But
Jonathan backs away when friends and families start to whisper. As Jane goes with
Jonathan, Stephen goes to watch an opera. But Stephen has an episode and goes into a
coma, and the doctors hesitate in doing a tracheotomy on him due to his muscles already
having atrophied which means Stephen's ability to speak will be impaired. Jane insists on
a tracheotomy, but the family then struggle communicating with Stephen.
Jane hires a help, Elaine, who quickly suits Stephen's needs while Jane slowly slips away
from him. Stephen then gets the robotic speech aid program which helps him a lot. But
then Jane reaches her limit and she and Stephen get a divorce. Jane goes on to marry
Jonathan. But Stephen calls for Jane, as the first spouse, to accompany him in receiving a
title from the Queen.

*****

In 1963, Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) is a physics PhD student at

Cambridge, enjoying parties, rowing and banter with his friend Bryan (Harry
Lloyd). Professor Sciama (David Thewlis) gives them a difficult assignment but
Stephen brings back the right answers scrawled on the back of a train
schedule.

Stephen meets languages student Jane (Felicity Jones) at a party. They are
attracted to each other and attend a May Ball where Stephen gets over his
shyness and dances with Jane. But one morning, Stephen suffers a bad fall in
his college quad. Doctors examine him and he is told he has motor neuron
disease, his muscles will degenerate and he has only two years to live.

An anguished Stephen turns both Bryan and Jane away but the latter pursues
him. She insists he play croquet with her which is when she sees how
physically challenged he has become. Stephen is shattered but Jane insists on
marrying him, despite his father trying to dissuade her, saying he fears it will
be a devastating loss.

The couple are happily married though and have two children soon. But while
he passes his PhD viva and works as a lecturer, his research gaining admirers,
Stephen's physical condition is rapidly deteriorating. He cannot speak
fluently or walk, he must be fed and he often chokes. Looking after him is
exhausting Jane but Stephen is resistant to getting external help.

Jane's mother sees how stressed she is and suggests she join a church choir
where Jane meets choirmaster Jonathan (Charlie Cox) who has lost his wife
and is lonely. Jonathan becomes a family friend, helping with Stephen and
the kids, but this closeness isn't approved of by Stephen's family. When the
Hawkings have their third baby, Stephen's mother outrageously asks Jane if
the child is Jonathan's. Jane and Jonathan decide to step apart because they
do have feelings for each other. But Stephen convinces Jonathan to return.

Stephen decides to go with friends to a concert in France. But as the music

plays, he coughs blood and faints, suffering from pneumonia and put on life
support. To save him, doctors must operate on his throat, ending his power
of speech. Jane, who was on a camping trip with Jonathan, where the couple
come closer, arrives in France and agrees to the surgery as Stephen's life is
vital to her. Stephen must then learn to communicate through a spelling
board and the couple's life gets harder.

But then, a trained nurse Elaine (Maxine Peake) arrives, and Stephen is very
happy to communicate with ease. Even better, a computerised application
soon helps him give voice to his thoughts and he forms a fun relationship
with Elaine. Meanwhile, his research is earning him global accolades but the
distance between Stephen and Jane is growing. Finally, Stephen tells Jane
Elaine will be accompanying him on a lecture tour to America. Jane realises
their marriage is over but the couple remain close friends, Stephen even
acknowledging the presence of God to the devout Jane who is delighted that
he is not an inflexible atheist any longer.

In America, Stephen addresses eager students. Someone asks him his

philosophy of life and as he movingly imagines being physically able, he says
life is about hope, courage and human endeavour, to which there is no
boundary.

Stephen Hawking is invited by the Queen to be honoured and he invites Jane

- now married to Jonathan - and their children to accompany him. The couple
sit in a garden and smile when Stephen indicates the children and says, "Look
at what we made."

******

Here is the sad and frustrating irony of “The Theory of Everything”: it’s a
biopic about one of the most brilliant people in the history of the planet,
the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking – a man famous for thinking
in boldly innovative ways – yet his story is told in the safest and most
conventional method imaginable.
This is ironic given the director: James Marsh, an Academy Award winner for the
2008 documentary “Man on Wire,” which was so thrilling and so clever in its
narrative structure that it made you leave the theater feeling as if you’d actually
witnessed Philippe Petit walking across a tightrope between the World Trade Center
Towers. (You didn’t – the film features photographs and reenactments but no film
footage of Petit pulling off his daredevil stunt. That’s how persuasive Marsh can be.)

Here, he’s made a strongly acted, handsomely crafted film that nonetheless feels
bland and unsatisfying. It falls into the trap that so many biopics do: It hits all the key
moments in the life of the author of “A Brief History of Time” and skims the surface
of a complicated existence without digging deeper, without taking chances. Everyone
involved does everything they should, and the result is just sort of … fine.
Of course, Hawking’s story is inspiring – the way he’s battled motor neuron disease
over the past 50 years and defied the odds not only to survive, but thrive. And in
playing Hawking, Eddie Redmayne more than rises to the challenge of portraying
the man's gradual physical deterioration but also conveying the spark of mental acuity
that has remained, and marked all of Hawking’s important work. Nothing the 32-
year-old actor has done previously (“Les Miserables,” “My Week With Marilyn”)
suggested he had this sort of complexity in him. It’s an impressive performance, so
much so that it makes you wish it were in the service of stronger material.
“The Theory of Everything” comes from screenwriter Anthony McCarten, based on
“Travelling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen,” the memoir by Hawking’s first wife,
Jane. A general feeling of tastefulness permeates the proceedings, as if everyone
wanted to be overly respectful toward these people, and their life, and the access they
provided, at the expense of revelations that might have seemed inappropriate or
startling or, heaven forbid, thought-provoking.
The love and support we see from Jane Hawking are tireless; as portrayed by a fresh-
faced Felicity Jones, Jane is a woman of both grace and strength. And what she went
through in taking care of him while raising their three children and trying to focus on
her own intellectual pursuits must have been exhausting, and often discouraging. It
must have threatened to swallow her whole. We see very little of that here. This Jane
is a saint.
But the early scenes between Redmayne and Jones positively crackle. There’s an
instant connection when they spy each other across a crowded room at a party at
Cambridge in 1963. He’s fumbling and funny, she’s pretty and perky. He’s studying
cosmology, she’s studying medieval Spanish poetry. He’s an atheist, she’s a devout
follower of the Church of England. But they’re mutually curious and seem to bring out
the best in one another. Their preliminary days include a romantic scene involving the
little-known properties of Tide laundry detergent.