Infinity (1996)

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

Director:

Matthew Broderick

Writers:

Richard Feynman (books), Ralph Leighton (books)

Stars:

Matthew Broderick, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Force

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

Storyline

As a young boy, Richard was fascinated with science and objects in motion. This wonderment was reinforced through the efforts of his father. The only thing that mattered as much as science, and his family, was Arline, whom he met when they were both in school. But fate can often be cruel and Arline is found to be stricken by Tuberculosis. Undaunted, Richard studies the disease as he studies science in hopes of curing her. When her disease is in remission, they marry and he proceeds on to college where his studies and the war lead him to Los Alamos to work on the Manhattan Project. While Richard is intrigued with the solution to the project, he is also concerned with the outcome and saddened with the failing health of Arline.

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Plot Keywords:

manhattan project | tuberculosis | los alamos | reference to copernicus | radiation sickness | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements, mild sensuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

First Look Pictures

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eine Liebe für die Unendlichkeit

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$78,976, 6 October 1996

Gross USA:

$195,170

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$195,170

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Look International, Neo Productions, Overseas FilmGroup

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Richard breaks down after seeing the dress is supposed to have happened before he comes home and happens because he realizes that he has caught himself thinking about Arline in the present when she has passed on. This is mentioned in "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman", .

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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.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: That Thing You Do!/Bound/Michael Collins/Infinity/If These Walls Could Talk (1996)

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Soundtracks

Ugly Chile (You're Some Pretty Doll)
Written by Clarence Williams
Published by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc. (ASCAP)
Copyright renewed

User Reviews

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.