A Brief History of Time Movie Review

Errol Morris's documentary about Stephen Hawking is unique in that it may be the only documentary to feature its subject prominently yet contain none of his voice. That's because Hawking, afflicted with ALS, can't speak and can barely even move two fingers; a voice synthesizer on his computer stands in for his own. The documentary provides an interesting (if still heady) backgrounder into Hawking's theories about the cosmos while intertwining his life story along with it (very bad student, didn't really get interested in science until his diagnosis, hit his stride as he neared total paralysis). It's hard to get to know the real Hawking from this almost cursory 80-minute look at his past (Morris's other docs have much more soul in them), but I presume this is as close as we'll ever get.