Stephen Hawking has always been an inspiration to me. The idea that he would not let his intellectual prowess be hampered by his crippling disease has always been awe-inspiring, and I’m honestly surprised it took this long for a proper feature-length biographical film to be made about his life. “The Theory of Everything” is informative to those who are unfamiliar with Hawking’s history, while also being incredibly moving, if a tiny bit underwhelming.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a great film with two outstanding performances from the leads (Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones), but there is a lot of emotional material that could and should have been explored in the film. It was also a little irksome to see the scientific aspects of Hawking’s life pushed aside in favor of his personal relationships, but thankfully, the complex relationships in this film are what truly sell it.

The film opens with Hawking still being fully mobile, and chronicles his life from college to where he is now. He meets his wife, Jane, shortly before learning that he has a debilitating motor neuron disease. He learns that the average life expectancy for patients in his condition is only 2 years and rapidly becomes depressed and hopeless in the face of his morbid situation. However, Stephen learns that the disease does not affect the brain, and with the indispensable help and support of Jane he continues on his pursuit of knowledge, hoping to eventually find an equation that can prove that time has a beginning.

Watching Hawking slowly become imprisoned by his own body is by far the most difficult thing to watch in this film. Redmayne is fantastic as Stephen, and you really can see the effort Redmayne has put into the role. Throughout the film, his speech becomes increasingly more unintelligible as his symptoms progress until Stephen loses the ability to communicate naturally completely. It’s heartbreaking to watch Stephen have his bodily functions ripped out of his control, but it is even more painful to watch his wife have to deal with caring for the man she loves as he slowly deteriorates. Jones is also fantastic as Jane, displaying a resolve strong enough to carry both her and Stephen forward no matter how difficult the situation.

Unfortunately, the scientific contributions that Stephen made throughout his life are a bit underwhelming in the film. Most of the scientific concepts that the film presents are boiled down to a simple metaphor, and at times it can feel like the film is talking down to the audience. If you’re already paying for a ticket to see a biopic about one of the world’s greatest living theoretical physicists, chances are you can grasp a few of the concepts without them having to be simplified into an analogy that a 5-year-old could understand. I get that the focus of the film is how the Hawking’s battled through some of the most difficult times of their lives, but I would have enjoyed a bit more insight into how Stephen came to the scientific conclusions that he did.

Aside from the science nitpicking, though, “The Theory of Everything” really is a great film. It’s certainly one of the more powerful films of 2014, and the performances are top-notch. The cinematography is pretty, if a bit pedestrian, and the color palette occasionally comes across as washed out, but for the most part, the film is well-made and an accurate period piece. There are times I wish director James Marsh had been willing to let the film get darker, as I’m certain the Hawkings’ lives did, though the melancholy ending does make up for it a bit.

I definitely recommend this film, but just know that it places Stephen’s human relationships above his scientific contributions.