Infinity - Um Amor Sem Limites

Most of this movie concentrates on the life of Nobel Prize physicist Richard Feynman (born in 1918), roughly from age twenty to twenty-seven. During this time he got his Ph.D. from Princeton and participated in the Manhattan Project. Also in that time frame he met and married Arline Greenbaum. There are a couple of scenes, with Feynman being around the age of six, that establish his inquiring mind and his relationship with his father, but the main thrust of the movie details the relationship between Richard and Arline.

Having read Feynman's books "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman" and "What Do You Care What Other people Think," as well as having viewed several of his videos on YouTube, I felt that this movie did not capture what I perceive as Feynman's impishness and openness. Maybe this was because during the time period covered Feynman was dealing not only with his early career challenges but also with the serious health problems of Arline. I thought the movie did a good job of detailing how Feynman coped with the difficult conflict between his professional ambitions and his love and devotion to Arline.

I suppose most people's image of the 1940s comes from looking at bleached out color photos and videos from that time. Whoever decided on the lighting for this movie must have been under the impression that that is what things looked like at the time, since there seems to be some sepia-toned cast to much of the film. I suppose the desire was to add some sense of nostalgia for a past era, but I found the rather dark filming fosters an overall fogginess.

Feynman's academic career was glossed over with there being little desire to inform the audience as to what his scientific interests were. There was no mention of what his contributions were to the Manhattan Project, or why he was chosen to go to Los Alamos. There was some odd editing like the insertion early on of a hand tossing out small pieces of paper from atop a wooden post. After the atomic blast at Alamogordo there is a scene of Fermi doing some measurements of how the pieces of paper were scattered in order to estimate the power of the blast, but this was not made clear enough for most people to make the appropriate deduction. Also, the movie has Feynman looking at the atomic blast with unaided eyes which would have caused retinal burns.

The score tries to be manipulative, but winds up being intrusive. Every time there is a tender moment some sappy music is played.

I wish this movie could have given more of a hint of Feynman's being a witty, free-spirited genius, which I think he was.

I read the book, "What Do You Care What Other People Think" and did some research. From there I learned to respect the man. "Infinity" is a wonderful movie. It shows a real love story between two people. Feynman's desire to marry Arlene, even though she was ill, shows dedication to principles that are wanting in our society. This wasn't an easy thing.

Then there is the personal story of his work on the Manhattan Project. He was a practical physicist, who brought the science down to "our" level. Who can forget his demonstration of the "O-Ring" failure from the Shuttle Challenger. This approach changed my perception of the science and I learned to love physics.

So, yes, I recommend this movie.

Laura

This was kind of a strange, low-key movie, one that isn't going to get a lot of attention, especially with a younger audience which wants anything but a slow- moving story. But, whatever your age, if you want simply a nice movie, you have one here.

Other reviewers here have gone into the details about the real-life persons this film is based on, so I will just make a few general comments I had while watching this.

First, I enjoyed Matthew Broderick's narration. Broderick usually plays likable roles and is an underrated actor, I think. I've never seen him in a bad performance. Even though this story is an emotional one, I found little emotion in the film but that makes it intriguing in parts.

Sometime past the halfway mark, I asked myself, "What is the point of this story?" There is a point, and there is more than what meets the eye to this. Those who have seen this film know what I mean. I'm making vague statements, but I don't want to give away anything.

I enjoyed the 1940s look to this, appreciated Patricia Arquette's against-type role; appreciated the fact there were no villains in here and the profanity was low. As I said, it's a nice film and touching drama.

Broderick and his mother wrote, produced and directed this film.

Not only is Matthew Broderick one of the most GORGEOUS men on the planet, he delivers a stunning and beautiful performance. One of my favorite lines is "I'm working on a job for the government. I'm getting paid. This way I can take care of her, at last." That line slays me. When she...you know, and he breaks down...well, I just start crying like a baby at that point. Patricia Arquette is always wonderful, of course, and she takes the cake as Arline Greenbaum. The running gag in the joke is when they say, "What do you care what other people think?" to each other. And when she says, "I think I'm a very lucky woman to have Richard Feynman for a friend." And then the look on Richard's face, so full of love for this woman who "knew him by heart". Patricia Arquette's voice when she sings is kinda...eecky, but it has that swinging bluesy quality that was popular when the movie takes place. All in all, Matthew Broderick is HOT and SEE THIS MOVIE. Matty is an INCREDIBLE DIRECTOR!!!!!!!

I first caught most of this film on T.V. I love Matthew Broderick, so I stopped to watch it. I was totally engrossed in this story, and couldn't pry myself away. It is a complicated movie, but I think Broderick did a wonderful job acting and directing. I think the thing that most captured me is not the story, but of how Broderick portrayed, Feyneman. His expressions represent his character better than any words spoken in the film. Broderick portrayed his character extremly well. He showed a man who was complicated and had many tough decisions to make, and did it to the best of his ability. On this alone, I give Infinity a 10 out of 10.