Reel Critics: The sober side of Stewart

Comedian Jon Stewart skewers our culture and politics on cutting edge broadcasts of “The Daily Show.” We expect raucous laughter from his audience. We don’t expect that he could move us emotionally by depicting a serious subject taken from real life.

But that’s exactly what he does as the writer and director of “Rosewater.” Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari returned to Iran in 2009 to cover the controversial election for the magazine. He also appeared on the real Stewart show in a sarcastic skit about CIA spies in Iran.

A few days later, Bahari was arrested by Iranian police as an American spy. Kept in solitary confinement for 118 days, he was beaten and psychologically abused by the perfumed interrogator of the title. But Stewart injects enough sharp humor into the dreadful situation to create hope and inspiration for the audience.

Gael Garcia Bernal does an outstanding job playing Bahari. Kim Bodnia is equally well cast as his prison tormentor. Stewart’s intimate involvement with the subject matter is obvious in the finished product. A simple story of injustice and redemption, it marks a fine debut for Stewart as a filmmaker.

—John Depko

*

Hawking bio has ‘Everything’

My scant knowledge of physics notwithstanding, I was fascinated by Errol Morris’ 1991 documentary about Stephen Hawking, “A Brief History of Time.” The noted British theoretical physicist is not only brilliant, but his wit and ability to explain complicated theorems in layman’s terms have made him something of a superstar.

The extraordinary new film about his extraordinary life, “The Theory of Everything,” is based on a book by Hawking’s former wife Jane. Told with a great deal of charm and empathy, it will surely catapult lead actor Eddie Redmayne to stardom.

The film opens in 1963 with Stephen (Redmayne) a grad student at Cambridge. He meets the very pretty Jane (Felicity Jones) at a party, and in spite of the crooked glasses and gawky social skills, she’s won over by his self-effacing charm and keen mind. They fall in love, and we realize we’ve been smiling nonstop just like them.

But then, Stephen is struck by a motor neuron disease that first attacks the limbs, and at the age of 21 is told he has perhaps two years to live. In what is an ages-old movie cliché but holds true in this case, Jane refuses to let him give up. They are soon married and Jane bears him three children.

“Everything” is as much a tale of Stephen Hawkings’ groundbreaking work as it is about his marriage; it seems there are as many joys as disappointments.

It would not be as wonderful a film without the incredible performance by Redmayne, whose physical transformation and subtlest of facial movements make us believe we are watching the real Hawking and not an actor. Jones also gives a beautifully layered performance as the resourceful wife.

This is another serious contender for Best Picture.

—Susanne Perez

JOHN DEPKO is a retired senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. He lives in Costa Mesa and works as a licensed private investigator. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a company in Irvine.