I just got back from seeing this with my girlfriend. I agree with this reviewer that there’s often a sense of missed opportunity for looking at some of the really hard stuff: there’s a lot of stuff about both of them, though especially Jane, that isn’t explored as deeply as it could be.

There’s one scene when Hawking has an idea about how he might prove that time has a beginning. He’s struggling to get into his jumper at the time. He lets his wife know that he’s got an idea coming on and she dutifully wheels him to the university, and his academic friends take over from her in wheeling the wheel chair. It’s presented very much as though Hawking is a conduit for the idea and it’s as if he’s being used by the academics around him to get that idea out. It reminded me of the novel Never Let Me Go.

Is this how new science is done? Is there a separate category for genius, or is all creativity like this, or is this just a popular fiction/myth about creativity?