The Theory of Everything (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

December 30, 2009 by Dennis Amith 

“The Theory of Everything” is a wonderful Christian film.  The film is inspiring, heartwarming and though-provoking that by the end of the film, you will in no doubt feel touched by it’s powerful message. Definitely recommended!

Images courtesy of © 2006 Blue Yonder Pictures, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The Theory of Everything

DURATION: 86 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Anamorphic Widescreen (1:78:1), Dolby Digital, English, Spanish and Portuguese Language tracks, Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and Portuguese

RATED: Not Rated

COMPANY: Affirm Films/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: January 12, 2010

Written and Directed by David de Vos

Executive Produer: David McFadzean

Produced by David de Vos and Stephanie de vos

Associate Producer: Terenece Pratt

Music by Brian Mann

Cinematography by Terence Pratt

Edited by David Christiaan, David de Vos, Jeff Learned

Production Design and Art Direction by Noelle Charles

Starring:

David de Vos as Doug

Victor Lundin as Dr. Eugene Holland

Frances Black as Abby

Amanda de Vos as Amanda

Janna Savatchee as Lindsay

Cheridah Best as Marcia

Mary Jo DuPrey as Delilah

Joan Benedict  as Judge

Does God exist? Does Science prove God’s existence or provide more reasons to doubt? Doug Holloway (David de Vos), a family man on the verge of financial and marital ruin, embarks on a journey to find his birth father, Dr. Eugene Holland (Victor Lundin). Dr. Holland is on a mission of his own – to prove the Holy Grail of physics – the Theory of Everything – that may prove the existence of God. His greatest challenge? Completing his quest before a degenerative brain disease (CJD) claims his ability to reason. Soon the two journeys become one as the men struggle together to rebuild their family and find new hope in God. A moving story of family, faith and theoretical physics, The Theory of Everything will inspire you to “Envision the Possibilities.”

“The Theory of Everything” is a wonderful Christian film.  The film is inspiring, heartwarming and though-provoking that by the end of the film, you will in no doubt feel touched by it’s powerful message.

“The Theory of Everything” is a 2005 film written, directed and starring David De Vos (who worked on “The O.C.: A Day in the Life”, “Beverly Hills 90210: 10 Year High School Reunion”, “Star Trek the Experience: The Klingon Encounter”, “Switched!”) who plays the main character Doug Holloway.  The film starts off with a scientist trying to writing equations on a board and suddenly he is stricken with something that quickly affects his health.  He is seen going to the medicine cabinet and telling God that he’s not ready to die yet and breaks the mirror.

In the film, Doug runs a fledgling airport is also a flight instructor at his own flight training facility.  He is hoping for a loan to come up but with the property owners only giving him weeks to come up with the money, Doug is in between a rock and a hard place.  To make things difficult for him, he’s hardly at home and his wife Abby (played by Frances Black) is not so happy that her husband is spending more time at work than with his wife and his two daughters.  But for Doug, he feels that his money is what keeps the family afloat.

One night during Christmas, Doug receives a call from a lawyer to meet in her office in regards to his real father.  Doug feels there is nothing to lose, so he goes to the meeting and finds out that he has a half sister named Delilah (and eventually he left Delilah and her mother and thus their relationship is quite estranged) and that his real father is sick and has a degenerative brain disease and the state is processing papers for him to be detained.  His father told the lawyers that Doug is his “last connection” which Doug has no idea what that means but the lawyer wants to know who can take care of him and take over the estate.  For Doug, he is not sure how much his real father is worth but in his mind, this may be the ticket he needs to pay his debt for his business.

Doug goes to visit his father and things start out a bit rocky as Dr. Eugene Holland (played by Victor Lundin) doesn’t like people coming onto his property but eventually Eugene (Gene) believes that Doug is his real son and lets him into his home and it appears that Gene has been busy working inside his home.  Gene explains that he is trying to use his scientific mind to find out if Heaven is hidden in one of the dimensions and has dedicated his life to finding a way to find God.  That God perhaps has somehow left clues for scientists to find out a way to get to heaven through science and thus he is trying to find out how.

We learn from Gene about Doug’s real mother, a woman named Lori and he talks about the magic of the Aurea Borealis in arctic and the possibilities of trying to find Heaven’s door so he can find his deceased wife.  For Doug, he is intrigued by his father but feels that he wants to get closer to him, so he starts showing Gene that he has family through Doug’s wife and two daughters which makes him happy.   From that point on the two decide to help each other.  Doug wants to bring family into his life and help Gene with his research while Gene will help Doug with his financial budgets for his business and become a financial partner in his business.

All looks good with Doug, family and Gene until on Christmas Eve, Gene’s health takes a turn for the worst.  And with his degenerative brain disease, he is expected to lose all his memory.  Knowing that time is against them, Gene asks for Doug’s help in his research as they don’t have much time.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“The Theory of Everything” is featured in 1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen.  Picture quality looks slightly compressed as you will notice some compression artifacts and for a 2005 film, the PQ doesn’t look as clear as I would have hoped.  There is a fine layer of grain which is fine but for the most part, picture quality for the film is good.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital English and also Spanish and Portuguese Stereo. Dialogue is clear and can be heard clearly through the front channel speakers. For those with a modern home theater receiver and setup will probably want to have audio settings on stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundtrack but overall, audio is clear.

Subtitles are in English, English SDH, Spanish and Portuguese.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“The Theory of Everything” comes with no special features but trailers. I wish there was audio commentary or some sort of special features, especially to know how David de Vos was inspired to write this script and also the inclusion of the science behind the film for the character of Dr. Eugene Holland.

I was very pleased with “The Theory of Everything”.  I found it to be quite heartwarming and inspiring.

I was surprised to see find out that David de Vos, producer, writer and director and also playing the main lead but also to find out that de Vos also has experience producing and writing for Hollywood specials for popular TV shows such as “Beverly Hills 90210″ and “The O.C.” and as an actor, his main roles were extras in films such as “Pearl Harbor”, “Posers” and “The Island”.  But what de Vos was able to create was a magical film that will definitely touch the hearts of many people who have question if God was real and using science to justify if Heaven truly exists. A storyline focusing on the scientific and religious aspect could have been complex but overall, it was well-done (granted, I am not knowledgeable about the scientific things that Dr. Holland speaks of but I’m leaving it up to de Vos that he did research that aspect for the film).

Victor Lundin did a tremendous job playing the part of Dr. Eugene Holland and seeing his character so full of energy and eccentric as a scientist but also this crotchety man who goes gun crazy if anyone nears his property.  But most of all, the viewer witnessing this man who was provided with this intellectual talent and his fear that he is losing it due to his brain disease.

As for the film as a whole, acting for the film was not exactly spectacular but I am assuming that with the multiple roles that de Vos took part in the film, that the film was more than likely created with a very low budget (unfortunately, I was not able to find out how much the film actually cost).   But I suppose when it comes down to the more emotionally driven and more important scenes, that is where the talent of the film actually do shine.

The film is not rated, so for those who plan to watch the film with their family and children, there was one or two scenes that did catch my attention and probably a scene that I wasn’t expecting for a Christian film was  when the Holloway family are trying to protect Gene from the authorities and Doug’s step sister Delilah went after his estate.

The scene features de Vos’s daughter Amanda trying to protect her grandfather and in the process, Delilah’s friend slapping her in the face and seeing the daughter fall to the ground. With so much noise and seeing Doug nearly lose it and the crying baby and personally, I felt the scene was surprising but it made the film much more real.  So, I’m glad that David de Vos didn’t sugarcoat the scene.  Also, it’s important to note that Dr. Holland is one of those crotchety neighbors who will shoot anyone who comes near his property with a shotgun and in the beginning, he does try to shoot warning shots at Doug.  I can understand if those two scenes may be upsetting to parents but if you plan to watch this film with the kids, its important to at least parents know that those scenes are in the film.

But “The Theory of Everything” is an enlightening and enjoyable family film.  From the challenges that exists within families (especially during these economic times where parents tend to focus so much in providing financially for the family and not enough time with them) and if one can keep the faith, they can overcome those challenges.  I thought it was absolutely cool how the family aspect of the film was handled and how the Holloway family reached out to Gene and within their time together, making sure they spent quality time even though they don’t have much time due to his degenerative brain disease.

The DVD for “The Theory of Everything” was originally released by Triumph Marketing back in 2007 and this 2010 re-release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment doesn’t feature anything else new but the trailers and perhaps the additional languages and subtitles.  So, if you are looking for a version that includes Spanish and Portuguese language (and subtitles), then this DVD re-release is for you!

If there was one major disappointment that I had towards this new DVD release was the lack of any special features.  This is one of those films that you wish there was some sort of audio commentary included.  I would have loved to hear how David de Vos came up with the story, the challenges he had to undergo by taking on the multiple roles as producer, director, writer and playing the main character of the film, directing the confrontation (between Delilah and her father) segment of the film, him working with the various talent and discussion about the ending scene as well.

Overall, “The Theory of Everything” is a wonderful Christian film.  The storyline is not too banal nor is religion forced down the viewer’s throat.  Also, I have to say that among the Christian films that I have seen thus far, “The Theory of Everything” is among the more enjoyable ones that I have seen.

I found the “The Theory of Everything” to be quite inspiring, heartwarming and though-provoking and by the end of the film, you will in no doubt feel touched by it’s powerful message. Definitely recommended!