Theory Of Everything.
Its focus felt a little disjointed - it didn't make the most of Stephen Hawking as a centrepiece, almost completely missing his characteristic wit, humility and sense of humour. And it didn't feel like a wholly honest portrayal of the couple's relationship (which takes the centre stage in the film), with the wife generally feeling rather saintly. Some motivations felt sketchily defined, too. All these issues probably stem from the script being based on the former Mrs Hawking's autobiography.
So the main aspect I took away from it was as a portrayal of the great hardships of living with motor neuron disease, and the will to conquer it. It's not a bad film by any means, I just felt it could, and should, have been a lot more. Acting performances are stellar, as you'd expect in a prestige film like this; Eddie Redmayne's fully transformed.
If you can only see one Oscar contending biopic about a troubled English genius this year, I'd suggest The Imitation Game without hesitation, but this one's worth a look.
