The Man Who Knew Infinity is a sincere attempt to immortalize a genius who we, quite frankly, should know so much more about. For that reason alone, I would encourage you to watch this movie. It is a source of immense pride as well as a touch of sadness that such a legend existed in India and yet we know so little of him (or at least me, at any rate).
I would like to say that the movie itself is magical in its own way, celebrating the wonders of that brilliant mind, unfolding a universe with patterns that created a symphony of their own in the most magnified of views and holds you in awe of this beautiful mind that was capable of so much more than us mere mortals could even conceive. That, however, would be stating what this legend deserved and not exactly what the movie itself offers.
One of the chief problems with this movie, is it isn’t clear what it wants to dwell on – the genius of the Indian mathematician, his personal life, his devotion to religion, a unique equation across a strong bond that was beautiful in its own way – so it ends up giving us a smattering of each of them – never really delving deep enough for us to get engaged and enraptured in anything particular. Pacing is the other challenge. While it moves through time fairly quickly, the pacing is uneven and there isn’t a sense of build-up that you would hope for. The near absence of humor doesn’t make things much better.
On the bright side though, some of the writing is exemplary and there are a lot of subtleties here and there. These do not try to explain themselves but being a celebration of the intellect, expect the audience to catch them on their own. The cinematography is good too, with the shots of Cambridge and its interiors being particularly awe-inspiring.
There are some moments of brilliance – despite the complicated subject of advanced mathematics, the movie smartly explains what the protagonist is trying to achieve and why it is so wondrous. The fact that this is a true story finally has the maximum appeal and the engagement is largely driven by wanting to know the fate and achievements of the protagonist.
With a strong protagonist, the Man Who Knew Infinity could truly have scaled larger heights and counted higher, but as things stand, Dev Patel, much as he tries, simply is too ordinary in his portrayal. Perhaps his character (being the protagonist) could also have been written better. Instead, the focus and much of the limelight goes to Hardy, played by Jeremy Irons, with a wonderful performance that actually gets you to feel some connect, albeit for the wrong person. All others are hardly of note as the film revolves majorly around these two. The side arcs are frankly a distraction.
With a better choice than Dev Patel and better plot structure, The Man Who Knew Infinity could’ve truly got the commemoration he deserves. Though its reverence for his feats are obvious, the movie succeeds only in parts. Still it is a credible and honest attempt at telling the life and times of the great genius and for that alone, it is worth a study.
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