Infinity (1996)

Director:

Matthew Broderick

Writers:

Richard Feynman (books) &
Ralph Leighton (books) ...

Release Date:

4 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

Story of the early life of genius and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman.

Plot Keywords:

Tuberculosis | Los Alamos | Manhattan Project | Hospital | Marriage

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Matthew Broderick	...	Richard Feynman
Jeffrey Force	...	Young Richard
Peter Riegert	...	Mel Feynman
David Drew Gallagher	...	Harold
Raffi Di Blasio	...	Robert (as Raffi DiBlasio)
Josh Keaton	...	David (as Joshua Wiener)
Patricia Arquette	...	Arline Greenbaum
James Hong	...	Abacus Adder
Emerson Tran	...	Kid
Melissa DeLizia	...	Young Joan
Dori Brenner	...	Tutti Feynman
John Hammil	...	County Dr. #1
Jack Lindine	...	Mr. Greenbaum
Helene Moore	...	County Nurse #1
Carl Strano	...	County Dr. #2

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, mild sensuality and language.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:PG (original rating) | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Germany:6 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA

Company:

First Look International

Quotes:

Richard Feynman: Mathematics is a language. It's very difficult. It's subtle. You couldn't say those things any other way - and I can talk to dead people with it. I talk to Copernicus every day.

Soundtrack:

Ugly Chile (You're Some Pretty Doll)

A gem of a small movie, told with gentleness and feeling

A caution: this review reveals details of the movie.

The movie "Infinity", stars Matthew Broderick who portrays the Nobel-prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. Broderick also co-produced and directed the movie. Keeping it in the family, the screenplay was written by Matthew's mother, Patricia Broderick. The other major role, that of Feynman's first wife Arline Greenbaum, was played by Patricia Arquette.

Infinity is not a documentary about a phase in the life of Feynman the scientist, my expectation. My first impression as the movie unfolded was disappointment. I have been intrigued by Feynman the physicist and scientist since I purchased his Quantum Mechanics lectures trilogy in 1968. As the movie progressed, I saw that it isn't a movie about science; it is a movie about the heart. The point of this movie is to portray Feynman the person, and his relationship to the love of his life, Arline Greenbaum; in this it succeeds wonderfully.

A few years back, while reading one of Feynman's books, I ran across a passage which made a big impression. Feynman wrote that his children, who were raised in private schools and visited home only during holidays, were known well enough to him that if he were to meet one on the street, he would probably recognize that person as his child. That statement helped convince me to move from academia to the business world, making becoming a better father and husband my top priority. After seeing this movie, I better understand Feynman the person. The tragic loss of his first wife probably produced a life-long desire to hold personal relationships at a distance, and to make research and teaching his top priorities.

Broderick does an impressive job of directing the film. Just one example: at the moment of the death of his wife, my expectation was for there to be intrusive weepy violins. Instead, the moment moved through silence, making a more powerful statement. That scene reminded me of George Burns pulling down his shoe box of old photos from the top shelf of his closet, and looking at them quietly in "Going in Style", a scene which packed an emotional punch without resorting to violins.

There is another dimension to the two Brodericks' intelligence which surprised me: they did not botch the physics, what little there was. Nearly every Hollywood movie which has an opportunity to do so, gets the science wrong... having space ships produce impressive sounds as they move through the vacuum of space, for example. Matthew Braderick as Feynman explains beta decay to his wife using olives from his lunch in an approach worthy of the real Feynman. Also, Feyman's father explanation of inertia, in which he differentiated between being able to name it and describe it, which he could do, and understanding the "why" of it, which no one could do, was a "deep" understanding of science which Broderick portrayed with sympathy and understanding. By staying away from complex mathematics and the physics that could have been incorporated into this story, to the delight of the geeks of the world, Broderick created a movie that is accessible to all.

"Infinity" is a gem of a small movie, a love story, a true story, told with gentleness and feeling; a movie which does not overreach itself. I strongly recommend it.