In the 8th grade I saw the movie "Good Will Hunting" and developed a serious crush on Matt Damon. I had pictures of him hanging in my room, I saw every movie he was in (even "We Bought a Zoo"), but in 2008 my unwavering Damon devotion began to dwindle. Why? Because I saw a Burberry magazine ad featuring a new face, Britain's Eddie Redmayne.
The type of crush I have on Eddie Redmayne is one where I blush just thinking about him! My love was cemented watching him in both "My Week with Marilyn" and "Les Miserables." Though the media slammed him for his terrible singing in"Les Mis," let's be honest, that's not why we were watching him.
I have a friend who knows of my Eddie crush and sent me the trailer for his newest movie as soon as it hit the web. In "The Theory of Everything" Eddie plays Stephen Hawking. The movie is based on the autobiography of Stephen's first wife, Jane.
*SPOILER ALERT!*
For those who aren't familiar with the story, Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with ALS while in college. The doctors gave him two years to live. As time went on, he became unable to walk and eventually, unable to speak. Eddie played this part with such tremendous physical commitment. He contorted his face, curled every finger and twisted his legs into wobbly noodles.
Despite all his physical limitations, Stephen always kept his trademark sense of humor. Eddie found those perfect moments of levity and played them beautifully.
Opposite Eddie, playing Stephen's wife Jane, was Hollywood newcomer Felicity Jones. In the film, Jane is portrayed is a classic college cool girl who breaks away from her friends to pursue her relationship with Stephen. Some of their first dates are among the most romantic scenes I've seen on film. My blush-o-meter was off the charts!
When Stephen finally shares his diagnosis with Jane, rather than run away, she decides they should get married. Others try to caution her, but she is undeterred. For the wedding scene, the film's costume designers recreated Stephen and Jane's real life outfits almost exactly. Entertainment Weekly published this cool side by side photo.
For a majority of the film you watch Jane struggle as she takes care of Stephen. Though his mind is fully intact (as is his sex drive), his physical ailments increase year after year. In the early years of their marriage, they are able to conceive three children, who Jane cares for basically on her own.
Over the course of the film, Jane begins to become resentful of her situation. She thought she would have two years with Stephen and she was prepared to take on whatever came their way, but those two years became decades. Maybe I get it more now as I'm watching my own grandparents need more and more help, but caring for someone like that, it really takes everything out of you.
As you can imagine, a relationship like Stephen and Jane's drove Jane to look for comfort elsewhere. She found renewed love and affection in the church choir leader, Jonathan.
When I was younger and I would watch movies with my mom she would predict the outcome in the first few scenes. It used to drive me crazy! Now that I'm thirty, I've seen enough movies to develop her same keen sense of foreshadowing and from the very first moment I saw Jonathan on screen, I knew he would become Jane's second husband. His character is played by another newcomer, Charlie Cox.
In the final moments of the film there is a montage that takes you back through all the pivotal moments in Stephen's life, both personal and professional. It was so moving, I couldn't help but cry!
I absolutely loved "The Theory of Everything." Not only because I got to stare at Eddie for two hours, but because the story was so heart felt and emotional. All of the film critics and bloggers are saying Eddie will be nominated for "Best Actor" at the Oscars in February and I sure hope they are right! I wouldn't mind seeing him on the red carpet all season long.
If you weren't planning to see this movie, you've got to add it to your list!
