Felicity Jones shines is this moving picture about Professor Stephen Hawking’s life.
This is the extraordinary story of one of the world's greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde. Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of - time. Together, they defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science, and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed. The film is based on the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, by Jane Hawking, and is directed by Academy Award winner James Marsh.
This movie has a very strong script and doesn’t seem to take as much creative license with the story, as say “The Imitation Game.” Now this is Oscar season and you expect many films like this one - emotional, touching, inspiring and based on a true story, but this one feels a little more meaningful thanks to a solid script.
The way the movie was shot was very clever; it used a combination of light and dark to reflect the mood of various scenes. However my one major complaint with this film is the slightly tacky end scene where, with the camera spinning we are taken backwards in time back to a happy, healthier moment in Stephen’s life and also when Stephen and Jane are still together.
Eddie Redmayne plays Hawking and while his performance is strong, it isn’t nearly as good as Felicity Jones’ performance as Jane Hawking. Both actors have been nominated for Best Actor and Actress at the Oscars respectively, most people believe that only Eddie Redmayne will win, if he wins and Felicity Jones doesn’t it will be a great injustice!
Overall a wonderful, emotional and powerful film that has an outstanding performance from Felicity Jones and a good performance from Eddie Redmayne. It does lose half a mark for its slightly corny flashback ending.
4.5 Stars
Review by Benjamin Maio Mackay
Screening courtesy of Universal Entertainment
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