I saw this film this afternoon and I simply loved it. We all know it is the story of Stephen Hawking the brilliant Professor of theoretical physics at Oxford University who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1963 and was given 2 years to live. In the interim he married a friend of his sister and together they had three children
IMO the film was beautifully told, well acted by all and had me glued to the screen for the entire 2 hours.
Eddie Redmayne plays Stephen Hawking and his performance was nothing short of brilliant. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be nominated for Best Actor. So far this year the only other contender for Best Actor has been J. K. Simmons in Whiplash who likewise was brilliant
Eddie Redmayne however played an amazing role and the contortions and contractors of his body IMO were identical to anything I have ever seen of Stephen Hawking. How he did what he did with his facial expressions and hand and feet movements was beyond incredible.
In the final hour of the movie after Hawking was in Bordeaux attending a symphony he collapsed in the audience with pneumonia and cannot breathe. The suggestion by the doctor to his wife Jane was that they remove the respirator and allow him to die. Jane refuses and agrees to a tracheotomy which will render him unable to ever speak again.As a result he acts the final hour or so acting without speaking. It was a remarkable performance
This film is definitely high on my list but there re several more blockbusters due to open later this month that also smack of Oscar potential.
Highly recommended
