Theory of Everything, The MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: -2

Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones. Bio/drama/romance. Screenplay by Anthony McCarten from a book by Jane Hawking. Directed by James Marsh.

FILM SYNOPSIS: A look at the relationship between the famous physicist Stephen Hawking (the man who changed the way many look at how the universe came to be) and his wife. They meet at Cambridge and although opposites, (she believes in God, he believes in Time), they are quickly attracted. Soon, before they are wed, his body comes down with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, but her love is strong and she stands by him.

PREVIEW REVIEW: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength,” 1 Cor. 1:25.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God,” 1 Cor. 1:18.

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit,” 1 Cor. 2:14.

“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe,” 1 Cor. 1:21.

These verses come to my mind whenever the name Stephen Hawking comes up. And as I viewed the film and saw the physical torment Professor Hawking has endured these many years (he was expected to live only two years), I found his physical entrapment a sort of allegory, representing man’s intellect struggling with unanswerable questions. Nothing can be more damaging to the spirit within us than our intellect, for while God gave us a brain to reason, when human thought blocks out faith, we are often left with false solutions. Many wise men once believed the Earth was flat. In other words, what seems right to men may not be.

It is an award-worthy film with two of the best performances of the year in a romantic story that expresses true devotion. But such creativity can be used to mislead. While the question of God’s existence is repeated, not much of an argument is made on God’s behalf in this film. And despite the fact that the word “theory” is attached to the proclamations given by Hawking and others, it is implied by devotees of science that time is the true creator.

DVD Alternatives:

The Case For Faith

The Genesis Code

God’s Not Dead

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Focus Features