Film: The Theory of Everything

Two down, one to go! So, tonight was #2 of my three Tesco Cineworld vouchers, and off I went to Cineworld Hammersmith again. Tonight, it was The Theory of Everything, and a later show, so I ate at home first.

Bus both ways this time, and a perishing wait at the bus stop - warmer coat tomorrow, methinks. I checked with Google Maps where exactly to get off, and was reminded that they have a funny theory about that. I have said it to them, but of course to no avail. Point is, they want you to stay on until the stop after the cinema, which the bus goes right past. But the cinema is about exactly equidistant between that stop and the one before it, so I think it makes more sense to get off at the first of the two, when you can already see the cinema. So, Hammersmith Town Hall it was, and a brisk trot to the cinema, and boy was I glad to get inside.

This time, I was in Screen 2, upstairs. They have a wide aisle running behind the fifth row of seats, so I chose a seat in that one. I didn't realise how far back it was, i.e. how small the screen was. Also, there was a slightly loud group right behind my row, with coats and feet on the seats in front of them, right where I was supposed to be sitting. I sat further along the row, and finally decamped to the next row down. Luckily, I didn't seem to have taken anyone's place - there was plenty of room. And row E was sufficiently close to the screen.

So, as you probably know, this is the story of Stephen Hawking, played by Eddie Redmayne, and his first wife. Emily Watson plays her mother. Do bear in mind, first of all, that this is based on Mrs. Hawking's book, not on Stephen Hawking's books - so the science is brief and high-level. Apart from some pretty basic calculus equations that we get a glimpse of, and some brief speeches to summarise what he's working on, the science takes a back seat. This is the story of his first marriage, which followed hard on the heels of his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

In the beginning of the film, he's a fairly normal, if abnormally bright, and extremely geeky, postgraduate physics student at Cambridge. Gets a fancy for this young arts student. I must say, from what I know of geeky guys' conversations, this is pretty on the money. Then, in short, one day he stumbles and falls rather badly, and knocks himself out. When he comes to, he's told he has two years to live. Crikey! Undaunted, and despite his desperate attempts to avoid her, the young lassie declares that she'll take what time she can get, and they're hitched.

That, of course, is only the beginning, as child follows on child, and she finds herself doing everything, and putting her own life second..

It's quite moving. Of course, we know the basics of the story anyway. It is interesting to see flesh put on the bones of it, and as the disease progresses, it's shocking to see just what an effect it has on their everyday life. Redmayne plays a credible Hawking, and I can only imagine how uncomfortable it was for him, slouched over in that chair all day at an unnatural angle - very similar to what it's like for real. The girl who plays his wife does a wonderful job of transforming from the wide-eyed student bride to the weary-eyed frustrated wife.

You can only wish them all well.

Tomorrow, the last of my vouchers will serve to pay for me to see Kingsman: the Secret Service - same time, same place. Stars Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, and lordy - Mark Hamill! Didn't know he was still acting.

Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend - glad my flu has cleared, flights are miserable when you're sick! On Monday, I'm headed to Onegin at the Opera House, and on Tuesday to Title & Deed at the Print Room, Notting Hill.