Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

kenfromcanada While most of the reviews here are spot on, there is always someone who had to take a contrary view based on 'their' grasp of science. NO ONE SAID THIS IS A DOCUMENTARY! It is though a very well made film, with a great cast, a good period piece, and the science is correct enough! Any movie that educates the general public - an IOTA - is doing its job. We should all expand our knowledge of the world around us, it is surprising how many people today know nothing of Einstein and role he played in shaping the 'modern' world. An enjoyable movie that takes some very hard to understand theories and makes them understandable and entertaining.

k_28 The stupidity of this movie is equivalent to the genius of the great men on which it is based ..in fact it as a whole a complete contrast to the lives of those two men lived...its boring while their lives was interesting..its shallow while they had a deep philosophy in life and its so arbitrary in approach while they were perfectionist. One more point that need to be added that this is neither scientifically nor historically accurate.For example ..Eddignton was not the only who wanted to observe solar eclipse to prove Einstein theory in fact a previous attempt was made by other scientists in Russia but due to WWI it didn't succeed . Also the dramatic impact it tries to create is wrong as Einsteines theory was popular even before Eddignton laid his hands.True he was not a celebrity but was not an unknown scientist either. Anyways a movie can take a poetic license for converting story into a drama , but this movie fails in that aspect as well ; it doesn't not create any characters we can sympathize with. Eddignton comes as shy , diffident but at times stubborn who believes in some God, but his character lacks the depth of scientist and he comes as school student ..shallow n incoherent. Einstein on other comes as weird , confused person who acts like a quirky fellow by having sex in classroom or jumping of ship explaining relativity who is seemingly lost touch with reality. His love affair , we cant determine if a fling or deep love as neither characters expresses its emotions . Neither is his relation with wife properly portrayed as we don't know why he tries to avoid her. Even at his best Einstenie comes not as likable character but someone you will avoid. And this is sad as by every account he was a kind and gentle person. Nevertheless if you are watching a movie and both main characters are non likable whats the point of having a movie? It could very well be a documentary and not a movie. But it can not even be a documentary as its had gaping historical holes. And for scientific understanding ....better not watch it as it childish and plain wrong. It never really explains relativity even in its simplest form. So its something that one should avoid as a mediocre attempt on the great lives. I still feel there is a some movie out there which will do justice to their struggles , passions and genius.

gridsleep The best historical drama since Longitude, Einstein and Eddington not only reveals the extraordinary political and emotional drama of a break through moment in history, but shows that scientists are uniquely human. It is science and art that elevate us above the banal and the animal, and unites us in the common cause of the future. War is an aberration, like cancer. Truth is the only goal that is worth achieving. This film is a great and happy display of the supremacy of truth and the real conquest of reality, not by force of arms but by force of brains. As John Brunner wrote in his apocalyptic novel The Shockwave Rider, (according to Angus Porter) "This is the third stage of human social evolution. First we had the legs race. Then we had the arms race. Now we're going to have the brain race. ... And, if we're lucky, the final stage will be the human race." As long as there are men like Eddington and Einstein, I do not have the slightest doubt that there will be a human race, and we can all be proud to be part of it.

SpitfireIXB Einstein and Eddington is a very entertaining TV movie: well written, with decent cinematography and above average acting. David Tennant and Andy Serkis give really good performances as the younger Eddington and Einstein respectively and the remainder of the cast are outstanding. That said, I would like to comment on the misconceptions about Eddington's sexual preference and the ongoing debate about that. What sex has to do with the storyline is a mystery. Perhaps the homosexuality hinted at in the movie is there to gain a wider audience. In any event, the movie's intimation about Eddington's sexuality and the subsequent debate needs to be addressed. Everything I have read or was told about Arthur Stanley Eddington indicates that he was a painfully shy, genteel, devout Quaker and an active pacifist whose sexual preferences are UNKNOWN. To suppose that Eddington, or any other male for that matter, is a homosexual because they never married or died young, is an exercise in jackass fallacy; probably the most stupid deduction I have ever heard proposed. Such logic would also make every woman who never married or died young a lesbian. This is really dumb thinking, folks.Other posters and commentators have jumped on dialogue from the movie e.g., Eddington saying to his sister: "I really loved him!" as being prima facie evidence that Eddington admitted to his sister that he was a homosexual. First, for a person to declare that they love someone of the same sex, does not presume they are in a homosexual relationship with that person or that they are homosexual lovers. Second, people forget that these words were never said by Eddington himself and that they are actually just words put into an actor's mouth by a writer or a director. The fact is Eddington's sexual preference is UNKNOWN. It was never mentioned, indicated or hinted at by Eddington, his sister, his other family members, his friends or his colleagues at any time before, during or after his death. I don't understand the logic or rationale that because he never mentioned it, confirms he must be a homosexual. If Eddington was a homosexual it would be most unusual for him not to indicate this in his personal papers because homosexuals almost always leave behind some clear indication, or even proof, of their sexual preference. I cannot think of one homosexual who didn't. And Eddington didn't. Claiming Eddington is a homosexual sounds like just a lot of homosexual wishful thinking to me.Sadly, this inference in the movie and subsequent debate really deters from the terrific story of Eddington's (definitely heterosexual and academic) relationship with Einstein and the problems he encountered trying to prove Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. This movie would have been more dramatic if the makers had pursued Eddington's (and Einstein's) endeavours to find a repeatable scientific method experiment which would prove the Theory of General Relativity supersedes Newton's Theory of Gravity, as well as providing greater detail of the reactions of the German and English scientists and their inter-relationships with Eddington and Einstein. Eddington's battle with the Royal Society was monumental and went on for many years. Details of the science and the scientific debate would have made a more exciting and interesting movie and far more satisfying than having Eddington's character race his bicycle along a road next to a train, with a strange expression on his face, in order to bid farewell to his (undeclared) lover. It's just silly. While the movie clearly hints at Eddington's alleged homosexuality, it glosses over the Einstein's heterosexual aberration in his courting and marrying his first cousin - she was a first cousin his mother's side and a second cousin on his father's side of the family, a double whammy which gives new meaning to Einstein's relativity! Then again, I'm thankful because it really doesn't belong nor does it add to the real story. If the drama of the scientific debate had been followed more vigorously, instead of raising the homosexuality red herring, this movie would have been better for it and far more interesting. People seem to focus more on Eddington's sexual preferences than his (and Einstein's) genius and their scientific breakthroughs and achievements. And that is a tragedy.Nevertheless, this is a very good movie that I enjoyed very much despite these shortcomings. Enjoy!Rating: 4/5 stars