It's that other British biopic Oscar bait flick of the year, and possibly the weirdest because it's always weird to watch biopics of people that are still alive. I guess that's why a lot of them have the good decency to die while these movies are being made, but that's beside the point. It's a bit of a dry movie, nicely ticking off the ol' biopic checklist without missing a beat, and unfortunately without adding anything extra. It kinda reminded me of My Week With Marilyn (maybe it's the Eddie Redmayne connection?) in the sense it's a well-made, well-acted movie objectively, but that's about all the credit you can give it too. It's kinda funny that it's considered one of this year's most blatant Oscar bait movies because I never really got that sense. Maybe because it's less self-indulgent and show-offy, although it starts to a bit near the end. But during the movie I had a moment where I realized I was paying closer attention to Felicity Jones (who plays an equally marvelous role I should say) than I was to Eddie Redmayne, and that's because his performance transitions so naturally, without a hint of trying to milk it (outside of once again, a bit towards the end) that it's just there. To say it cosmologically, his performance is as the sun, with Jones orbiting around it giving it a purpose as it gives hers life.
"Chapeau!" to those two.