After Stephen Hawking is told he only has two years to live due to his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis he pleads to his girlfriend Jane Wilde that he needs these two years to work… to only work. However, Wilde counter-argues and states that she can’t have him break up with her and that she has already fallen in love with him. This is only the beginning for the extensive relationship that physics genius Stephen Hawking shares with Jane Wilde throughout the film The Theory of Everything.
The movie begins with Hawking eyeing and eventually befriending Wilde at a college party. The chemistry between them from their first conversation is difficult to ignore. They eventually start dating. During which time Hawking is diagnosed with ALS, a disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. ALS makes it so if someone is diagnosed they slowly become paralyzed. Wilde stays with him even knowing the consequences.
In the meantime, Wilde and Hawking fall in love, get married, and have a kid. He slowly enters a state of not being able to walk and slowly a state of not being able to move. Wilde is the loyal wife who technically acts as a nurse; cleaning, feeding, dressing, and basically doing everything for him. She does not complain but does not coddle him too much to let him keep some poise. As his health deteriorates his personality stays the same; which has to be why Wilde does not go insane. Hawking always has a glimmer of hope and happiness in his eyes and a demeanor which seems like if he’s “dying” inside he refuses to show it. He always is cracking a joke, smile, or smart remark. His optimism and humorous personality has to be how Hawking did not go wild after losing control of limb after limb.
Meanwhile, Hawking turns in his thesis to get his PhD in physics. A few members of the school faculty judge his thesis and harshly criticize the first two chapters. For those that do not know, Stephen Hawking is a defining symbol of the 20th century, who developed theories that have impacted the way that the world looks at the universe. So, seeing him criticized so severely on screen is a bit shocking and brings him down to Earth in a sense. However, they say the third chapter is brilliant and extraordinary. The third chapter being a theory that states that there was a black hole at the beginning of time, and this theory is one of the reasons why Hawking is the famous physics superstar that he is today.
The acting in The Theory of Everything is Oscar worthy. Being able to witness a man going through the struggles of ALS and at the same time researching the meaning of the universe is really entertaining to watch. This is true especially when Eddie Redmayne (Stephen Hawking) brings incredible authenticity and genuineness to the character. There is no ounce of overacting and Stephen Hawking himself has been quoted to saying when watching the film he felt that “at times he was me.” Felicity Jones (Jane Wilde Hawking), was also marvelous by capturing the stressed out yet lively nature caring for Stephen was like. She does not play Wilde as being bitter in any regard and comes off as a really likable character.
The story beautifully documents the struggle of the body and marriage in the face of ALS.