Briefly, two film reviews
Paddington: Was adorable. I haven't read the book(s) the film is based on, so took it on its own account. Aside from being a warm, funny film with some very timely none too subtle remarks about refugees and helping them, it also, like many a British family aimed movie, boasted of a rich variety of character actors. (Including Peter Capaldi as the villainess' temporary sidekick.) (Speaking of the villainess, two small boys in the row in front of me deemed her "cool" for her cat burglaring and dart shooting skills but of course condemmed her intentions for poor Paddington.)
A theory of everything: in which "boy-meets-girl" turns into "portrait of the heroine as a long-suffering wife". While Eddie Remayne - who didn't leave much of an impression on me in My week with Marilyn, though of course there he was hopelessly overshadowed by Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh both - does indeed do a very impressive award baiting job as Stephen Hawking (not "only" because he manages the increasing immobility, which has to be incredibly tough to simulate so thoroughly, but also because he gets across emotion just via his eyes in the end), the movie's focus is actually on Hawking's first wife Jane (Felicity Jones), and it's quite evident it's based on her memoirs. (For example: her extramarital affair is carefully prepared, Jonathan is very sympathetic, survivor of a tragedy of his own, incredibly helpful with Stephen and the kids, and she struggles against temptation before giving in. Whereas Stephen leaving her for Elaine the nurse happens very quickly and out of the blue. Elaine isn't vilified, but we get absolutely no indication about what her life was pre-Hawking, how she feels about their relationship etc., which we all get with Jonathan.. The overall result is a sympathetic story of two young people who get married when he's just been diagnosed with a life expectancy of only two years but manage to extend this for many many more years, with a bittersweet ending. Unfortunately it also contains one of my least favourite "fictional depiction of genius scientist" scenes early on. You know the one. Where the mundanes insist on stuff like working hard, but the genius is just a genius and can improvise something brilliant in a few minutes. This aside, I liked the film well enough while watching but don't feel the urge to reccommend it as a must.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1044260.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
A theory of everything: in which "boy-meets-girl" turns into "portrait of the heroine as a long-suffering wife". While Eddie Remayne - who didn't leave much of an impression on me in My week with Marilyn, though of course there he was hopelessly overshadowed by Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh both - does indeed do a very impressive award baiting job as Stephen Hawking (not "only" because he manages the increasing immobility, which has to be incredibly tough to simulate so thoroughly, but also because he gets across emotion just via his eyes in the end), the movie's focus is actually on Hawking's first wife Jane (Felicity Jones), and it's quite evident it's based on her memoirs. (For example: her extramarital affair is carefully prepared, Jonathan is very sympathetic, survivor of a tragedy of his own, incredibly helpful with Stephen and the kids, and she struggles against temptation before giving in. Whereas Stephen leaving her for Elaine the nurse happens very quickly and out of the blue. Elaine isn't vilified, but we get absolutely no indication about what her life was pre-Hawking, how she feels about their relationship etc., which we all get with Jonathan.. The overall result is a sympathetic story of two young people who get married when he's just been diagnosed with a life expectancy of only two years but manage to extend this for many many more years, with a bittersweet ending. Unfortunately it also contains one of my least favourite "fictional depiction of genius scientist" scenes early on. You know the one. Where the mundanes insist on stuff like working hard, but the genius is just a genius and can improvise something brilliant in a few minutes. This aside, I liked the film well enough while watching but don't feel the urge to reccommend it as a must.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1044260.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.