The Theory of Everything is a heart-wrenching movie adaptation of the book, Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, written by Jane Wilde, Hawking's first wife.

The film tells the story of Jane (Felicity Jones) and Stephen (Eddie Redmayne) Hawking from their first, cheeky flirtations at Cambridge University, to the discovery of Stephen's motor neurone disease and the couple's decision to marry, to the parallels of Hawking's physical decline with his intellectual success and the vigour of his and Jane's relationship.

Many have noted that the film focuses more on the relationship of Jane and Stephen than on the scientific accomplishments of Stephen Hawking himself. In fact, the longest speech about black holes is given by Jane, when she explains Stephen's latest research to her choirmaster and eventual husband, Jonathan Hellyer Jones (Charlie Cox). The effect of this is to make the science understandable for the viewer - Jane describes the theory using the examples of potatoes and peas - and to show that this is Jane's story, as much, if not more so than Stephen's.

That the focus is largely on Jane is a great strength of the film and due credit should be given both to Felicity Jones and director, James Marsh. The former's performance is astounding, depicting love, strength and loneliness in her interpretation of the relationship. Eddie Redmayne must also receive a mention of course, for his compassionate, witty and endearing-but-not-patronising portrayal of Hawking.

However, at times, the biopic nature of the film is frustrating because it skates over many details that may have added emotional intensity. In order to cover nearly a lifetime, fame is gained easily and divorce wounds are healed quickly. This causes the film to stray into fluffy Hollywood territory rather than something to take seriously. However, the film is 'a brief history of everything' in the lives of Jane and Stephen, and the implication and parallels do not go unnoticed.