Movie Review: The Theory of Everything

The Theory of Everything (2014) 

Directed by James Marsh 

Written by Anthony McCarten

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Charlie Cox, Emily Watson, David Thewlis 

Release Date November 7th, 2014 

Published November 5th, 2014 

Why does "The Theory of Everything" exist? Where did it come from? Why is it here? Not even Stephen Hawking could explain that. 

We have "A Brief History of Time," Errol Morris's remarkable documentary on the life of Stephen Hawking. It is the definitive story. "A Brief History of Time" combines Stephen Hawking's life and work as they should be, fully intermingled in time. Cross-cutting Stephen's childhood with bits of his theory, shifting between interviews about his past to his present theories, flows brilliantly with the way Stephen Hawking sees the world. It is timeless. 

"The Theory of Everything," on the other hand, is a linear, conventional, Hollywood biopic with all the soft edges and soft focus of classic hagiography. Eddie Redmayne suffers for his art as he contorts himself into an exceptional bit of mimicry. But for what purpose? Redmayne is a fine actor, but he doesn't give us anything new about Hawking. Redmayne and director James March merely recite Hawking’s life in image and dialogue. 

"The Theory of Everything" is based on the book by Jane Hawking, Hawking's first love and mother of his three children. The film is likely to make up for her diminished role in "A Brief History of Time," in which she chose not participate back in 1991. That’s nice, but it doesn't make the film all that more compelling. Jane is sweet and smart and above stalwart in the face of Stephen's many setbacks. But as played by Felicity Jones, she doesn't seem to have much inner life. 

Jones is a lovely actress who is left bland by the demands of a script. The story makes her out as both a saint and a victim who suspended her own life in favor of Stephen's, only to see him move on in a relationship with his nurse after 20-some years of marriage. That's not to say that this passage in the film has much drama to it either. The marriage breakup is followed by Jane immediately finding love again. She and Stephen are able to find friendship and peace without any seeming messiness. 

"The Theory of Everything" is a pretty movie with a pleasant score, a gentle sense of humor and a highly professional polish. So what? What is all of the polish in the world going to reveal about one of the most remarkable minds in history? Hawking's work is his most remarkable legacy. Here his theories are given  short shrift in favor of a kitchen-sink melodrama about potential or perceived marital infidelity. Even though it is based on fact, it’s the least interesting aspect of his life. 

Give me black holes and String Theory over marital morality plays any day of the week. You can have your gossip about who may have cheated on whom and when. I want to know more about time.

That's why "A Brief History of Time" makes "The Theory of Everything" irrelevant. In “Brief History” we get both a biopic (minus the gossip) and Hawking’s work. The work, not his love life, makes Hawking someone on which to focus a movie. 

Movie Review: Collide

Collide (2017) 

Directed by Eran Creevy 

Written by F. Scott Frazier 

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins, Felicity Jones 

Release Date February 24th, 2017 

Published February 24th, 2017 

“Collide,” starring Nicholas Hoult, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley has been sitting on a shelf for three years. Do I need to tell you much more about “Collide” than that fact? Okay, fine, movie reviews are required to be more than two lines so I will do my best to discuss the merits of “Collide” but again, if you understand the nature of the Hollywood release schedule, the fact that a movie has sat on a shelf for so long is very, very telling.

“Collide” stars Nicholas Hoult as Casey, an American living in Germany and making a living as a small-time drug dealer. Casey decides to give up drug dealing when he meets and falls in love with Juliette (Felicity Jones), a fellow American expat turned bartender. Things are looking up for the young couple in love until it is revealed that Juliette has a severe movie disease and needs an expensive plot point to save her life.

To get the money for Juliette’s transplant Casey takes a job from Geran (Ben Kingsley), his former drug dealing boss. The job pays just enough to pay for Juliette’s surgery (KISMET!) but it is also very dangerous. Casey and a partner must steal millions of dollars in cocaine from Germany’s biggest drug dealer, Hagen Kahl (Anthony Hopkins). The plan is silly and overstuffed and naturally doesn’t go as planned. Kahl figures out who Casey is, takes Juliette hostage and the stage is set for a lot of shouting into cell phones and car chases only slightly noisier than the shouting.

Speaking of shouting, does Ben Kingsley remember a time when he wasn’t shouting? Once a well thought of character actor, Kingsley has receded well into parody. Many critics, myself included, used to joke about Kingsley simply nabbing paychecks by accepting every role he’s offered. It’s not funny anymore. Sir Ben has morphed from the actor we laughed along with as he hammed his way through “Bloodrayne” or “The Last Legion” to that actor we pity for having lost his touch.

Anthony Hopkins hasn’t quite sunk to Sir Ben’s depths but he is not far off. Hopkins gives Kingsley a run for his money in the not giving a single damn about his performance. Hopkins can still put a bit of sizzle into his hammy monologues but “Collide” contains far too many instances of Hopkins monologuing just to keep himself awake in a scene.

Poor Nicholas Hoult is caught in the crossfire of the senior hams and is rendered bland in comparison. In his desperate attempt to take seriously the silliness he’s given to deliver and endure; Hoult is amiable but wholly defeated. It is Yeoman's work to take seriously the over-complicated silliness of “Collide” and it is hard to fault Hoult, an otherwise handsome and welcome presence, for being tired and overwhelmed.

Full disclosure, “Collide” was delayed because it’s original distributor, Relativity Media, went out of business and not necessarily because it isn’t any good. Of course, if the film were good it likely would have been bought out and released sometime in the last three years. Why the film is in theaters nationwide now is a mystery likely linked to a contractual obligation of some sort.

Movie Review On the Basis of Sex

On the Basis of Sex (2018) 

Directed by Mimi Leder

Written by Daniel Stiepleman

Starring Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Sam Waterston, Kathy Bates 

Release Date December 25, 2018

Published December 21st, 2018 

On the Basis of Sex stars Felicity Jones in the life story of sitting Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We join the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she became one of the first classes at Harvard to allow women, all the way back in 1954. Mrs Ginsburg was already married to her beloved husband, Martin (Armie Hammer) and was eager to start a family all while navigating the sexist and incredibly demanding schedule of a Harvard Law student.

As if her life weren’t difficult enough, in short order, Ruth becomes a mother and her husband develops testicular cancer and cannot attend his own Harvard law classes. So, Ruth attends and takes notes in Martin’s classes, attends her own, writes papers for herself while taking dictation from Martin for his coursework and while the two are raising their baby daughter. To say this woman was driven and brilliant is quite the understatement.

When Martin graduates and accepts a position at a high powered New York City law firm, Ruth completes her Harvard coursework while also attending classes at Columbia to be close to her husband. She then struggles to find a law firm that will hire her despite graduating at the top of her class. Ruth ends up accepting a teaching position at Rutgers where she finds herself at the center of a cultural revolution as her students are taking to the streets to demand social change.

Inspired in part by her students and by her daughter, Jane (Cailee Spaeny), Ruth finds a lawsuit that challenges the status quo in a way that will reverberate through the years in the battle against sexism. A Colorado man was denied a caregivers tax break because only women were allowed to be caretakers to family members who were incapacitated by illness. If Ruth can prove that the tax law is discriminatory against a man, it could create a precedent that could knock down dozens of laws that give different rights to men than to women.

On the Basis of Sex was directed by Mimi Leder, a solid pro director who brings a strong polish to this otherwise very straightforward biopic. There is certainly a remarkable amount of hero worship going on but it’s not entirely unearned. As played by Felicity Jones, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is some kind of real-life superhero, a rebuke to anyone who says you can’t have it all. Top of her class, married, two kids, and one of the most notable legal careers of modern American history. Indeed, that is heroic.

If I have any issues with On the Basis of Sex, it’s with the compressed timeline of the film. At times, because of the editing and the odd transitions, it can be difficult to track where we are in time. The film employs time jumps to get to the juicier parts of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life but in that, we have a moment where she goes from having one child to suddenly having a toddler son in such an abrupt fashion that you might miss a scene just catching up to where we are in time.

On the Basis of Sex is just a tad sloppy here in there from a structural standpoint but that’s a relatively minor issue. It’s one of those things that separates a good movie from a great movie. On the Basis of Sex is quite a good movie in my estimation but it’s not great. Leder’s approach to the life of Ginsburg is just a little too antiseptic. I am not asking for there to be dirt or grit, but some will find the level of hero worship approaching hagiography.

On the Basis of Sex is the second movie of 2018 dedicated to the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The other is a more necessary and comprehensive documentary called RBG. That film does render On the Basis of Sex a tad redundant. While On the Basis of Sex is kept to a specific portion of Ginsburg’s life and that gives it at least a different focus, RBG’s comprehensiveness makes it the far more essential portrait.

On the Basis of Sex is a sturdy and involving drama, a little loose in the editing but certainly not a bad movie. The lead performance from Felicity Jones is energetic, intelligent and engaging and the supporting cast is solid, with Armie Hammer as the standout as Martin Ginsburg, an unsung hero who supported his wife every step of her journey, even as every other man in her life created new barriers to her success.

If you had to choose one movie on the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, RBG is far more essential but On the Basis of Sex is strong enough that I can recommend it.

Movie Review Like Crazy

Like Crazy (2011) 

Directed by Drake Doremus 

Written by Drake Doremus 

Starring Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence 

Release Date October 28th, 2011 

Published November 12th, 2011 

My eyes welled up with tears when I first saw the trailer for the indie romance "Like Crazy." So, if even a jaded film critic can be this deeply affected by a movie trailer it's fair to imagine that this must be one terrific movie right? Wrong. "Like Crazy" is a mumbling, stumbling, indie bore-a-thon about two exceptionally uninteresting people going through one of the least interesting romances of the year.

Don't ignore your visa

Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and Anna (Felicity Jones) met at college when she left a note on the windshield of his car. She writes lovely poetry and he draws pretty pictures and together they have a chance to be a pretty couple doing pretty things. Jacob even makes pretty furniture for a living while Anna, in the US on a visa that's near expiration, is studying to become a writer. That expiring visa is an important plot point as are the vagaries of US immigration post-9/11 so pay attention.

Long distance relationship

As Jacob and Anna fall madly in love she decides to blow off the fact that her visa has expired and stays an extra three months to be with Jacob. It's Anna's suggestion that they spend the summer in bed and a cute, chaste montage shows them doing exactly that until Anna must leave the country for a family matter. Having overstayed her visa Anna is prevented from returning to America. The two lovebirds try to do the long distance relationship thing but this is a universe that is apparently devoid of Skype and the ability to figure out time zones and so they continually miss each other's calls.

Hey look, it's Jennifer Lawrence

Eventually, Jacob and Anna give up and start seeing other people. At about the 45 minute mark of "Like Crazy" Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence pops up, seemingly from another movie, and for a moment things improve. It's as if the producers realized the film was getting stale and shoved Lawrence in front of the camera to save the day. It doesn't work; Lawrence's Sam is a sweetheart who with great effort falls for Yelchin's banal romantic lead but she can't compete with the memory of Anna who Jacob runs back to and marries before giving up again after just a few months.

Soul sucking banality

Watching "Like Crazy" is like being trapped in an elevator with a pair of angst-riddled hipsters attempting to overcome apathy long enough to actually break up. Will their effort lead to a resolution? I will leave you to discover that you should go against my recommendation and suffer your way through "Like Crazy." After watching the remarkable trailer for "Like Crazy" I was convinced that this could be the 2011 version of "Once;" a modest, heart-aches little indie romance that converses with our romantic souls. Then I saw the movie and I felt my soul being sucked from body by the utter banality of "Like Crazy."

A winner at Sundance

In fairness, maybe the expectations I placed on "Like Crazy" were too high. I have never before been choked up by a trailer and I allowed that fact to color my opinion of the film. With that said, the film was still a disappointment, a boring, full of itself master-class of indie self-indulgence. "Like Crazy" was a big winner at the Sundance Film Festival. If that makes you want to check it out don't say I didn't warn you. This is one of those movies where the disconnect between the festival audience and the general audience is vast.