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This was the Movie that made me stop and think "wow! This guy can really act!" - I thought it was a great great Movie, with fantastic performances all round, and wonderful production.
The scenes where he's timing himself submerged in his bath, had me holding my breath with him!
How this performance didn't immediately propel him to the top of Movie casting lists, I just don't know.
All I can say is, the man deserves every accolade that - hopefully - comes his way in the future.
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Yeah it's strange to me that he was so many times nominated for BAFTA and EMMY and never won one of these. I hope it will change in future becasue he totally deserves it.
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He does, but at least we recognise his greatness!
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A fantastic and brilliant performce by BC.
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So… Hawking was finally among the older ones I sat down to catch up on the past week thanks to hearing all the ToE chatter from you guys and really wanting to finally see this version- a totally different and apparently amazing BC, not to mention Hawking's amazing story I didn't much know the personal details of. It helped that I found a great, subtitled one on youtube ('Stuart', too! That's next). And… 'Wow.'
Just… 'Wow', Benedict. I loved it. Just wanted to hug him at times! The only time I ever thought 'oh, hey Ben' was when he was underwater, sans glasses and any kind of Hawking face or hair, that's how good he's always been. I kind of wanted to see them continue the story a bit further, but I get it was focused on the period of the few major changes that shifted his life, tied to his huge effect on science from then on, with those two Nobel winners. Which was confusing the first couple times you see them, but then quickly saw the connection and thought it was great how they tied that in, not recalling much about the other science breakthroughs.
Anyone else get a smile and think it was neat to see Alice Eve in there, as the girl at the bar? Makes three movies I know of now where they worked together. 'Jane' was great, too, and even the parents were well-cast! Definitely might watch again.
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I can't believe that I never commented after seeing this one!
I think it was a bit after Christmas that I went on youtube and saw BC's Hawking (I think it all got lost in amongst the other Cumberbatch goodness that I got for Christmas).
It was a remarkable performance. I have seen TToE since then and I truly believe BC's was more stirring. I was weeping openly at how he was able to show the man's pain and frustration so clearly, sometimes in an overt way but a lot of it was through subtle, little ways. In every respect it was a complete performance.
Just like you Russell I was a bit confused at first by the interjection of the two Nobel prize winners throughout the Hawking bio parts. But it did tie in nicely in the later half of the film and I think it was something that worked really well overall. It made it something much more than just a biopic.
And I certainly will watch it again as well very soon. TToE is still pretty fresh in my mind and I would like to draw more direct comparisons between it and the earlier Hawking. Though there are major differences in the storyline and a definite differences in the conceptual themes of both films, it's only natural to want to contrast the performances of the lead actors portraying the same man.
Oh, and I hope you enjoy Stuart as well. It's an absolute keeper as far as I am concerned. And for those who think Cumberbatch is best suited to play effete elites and geniuses (no one on this board, but there are critics out there who think this) Stuart just blows this notion out of the water completely.
-Val
-Val