A Brief History Of Time is always the mostpristine tome on any shelf. No doubt the owner made the purchase with the intention of reading it, but simply hasn't found the... time.
Though I'm not convinced The Theory of Everything will increase your interest in theoretical physics, it will help you to see the book's author, Stephen Hawking, as more than just a genius suffering with motor neurone disease, but as a passionate man robbed of a normal life.
Directed by James Marsh, the screenplay by Anthony McCarten is based on the memoir of his first wife Jane. So instead of scientific discoveries, black holes and the dim future of the universe, we follow the emotional arc of their relationship which began when they were students at Cambridge.
Unlikely suitors, the couple played by Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne are polar opposites, for she is studying medieval literature and he is immersed in equations, yet across a crowded room, the attraction is pure chemistry.
All too quickly, Stephen starts to experience the symptoms that lead to a diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's Disease and given two years to live.
Rather than flee, Jane stayed, married him and bore him three children, but her husband's physical decline took its toll on both of them and it is heart-breaking to watch. Felicity Jones does sterling work as the put-upon wife who enables him to continue with his work, even after pneumonia robs him of his speech and he has to rely on a computer.
Reduced to a grinning mute with twisted limbs in the latter half of the film, Eddie Redmayne becomes Hawking, and with only his eyes to convey emotion, manages to say it all. It's an extraordinary performance worthy of an Oscar.
For those who loved Stephen Hawking's performance in The Simpsons – which is actually the physicist's favourite star turn - this film is easily the next best thing. For even though it relegates the theory, it tells us everything we need to know about the man.
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