Skip to main content

Theory of Everything - Film Review

Boring.  While it held my attention in the first half it started to drift and become somewhat monotonous in the second.  Intriguing moments are rare and the focus seems to be on emphasizing the obviously harsh reality in which the brilliant mind of Doctor Stephen Hawking had to function whilst also overcoming the threat that his very life may be over in short order.

To me emphasizing the details of a disease that is unavoidably brutal, and a given does not add anything to the experience of watching the film.

The characters (lead role for Hawking and his first wife) are well played yet the screenplay gets uninteresting after 45 minutes.  The scenes seem repetitive in their sequence adding no new insights.

It is important to realize that a successful person (in the case of a major intellectual force like Hawking) is not a stand alone phenomenon but a result of lot of pain and effort from a loving and caring cohort that plays a crucial role in supporting him - from his wife to his parents to his professor and friends all are contributing architects in helping Hawking succeed in presenting what he had to offer the world.

While the math and physics are not important per se in the movie - it requires Newtonian intellect to  truly understand or imagine the beginnings of our universe and what state we are in now - the dialog seemed muffled as well.  I could not understand half of what was being said.  That could be viewer auditory error as well - what with it being on the end of a long work week.

Not sure if the director has much experience with getting a film made - from what I can tell he definitely has produced work that highlights the experiences of unusual individuals but this particular production failed to be enjoyable, or inspiring which I think a work of art should do.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

On the go(zay masta) in Japan again

Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk  My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...

A few good books

 On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...