Infinity (1996 film)

Infinity is a 1996 American biographical film about the romantic life of physicist Richard Feynman. Feynman was played by Matthew Broderick, who also directed and co-produced the film. Broderick's mother, Patricia Broderick, wrote the screenplay, which was based on the books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?, both written by Feynman and Ralph Leighton. It is the only film Broderick has ever directed.

Plot
In 1924, Richard and his father Melville walk through the woods where Melville shows his scientific inspiration for Richard. In 1934, Richard and Arline are in high school and their romantic relationship starts. The story jumps to his college years and Arline getting sick with lymphatic tuberculosis. It continues to his move west to Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where Arline follows him later to a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she dies. The film ends with Feynman crying at the sight of the red dress Arline had pointed out.

Production
The film follows the 1988 book What Do You Care What Other People Think? fairly closely in terms of the stories told.

In 1994, Broderick said of the project, "The obvious way to structure a film about Feynman would be to open with the Challenger disaster: The crazy old genius comes along and figures everything out, then he drifts into a reverie along the lines of 'A long time ago I met a girl.. . .' We didn't do that, because we want this to be an intimate movie and thought focusing on one period of his life that includes the invention of the bomb and the death of his first wife was enough."

Broderick later said in 1997, "It was a difficult job and took four years from start to finish."

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 62% rating based on reviews from 13 critics. Roger Ebert awarded the film three out of four stars. Leonard Maltin awarded it two and a half stars.

Emanuel Levy of Variety gave the film a negative review and described the film as "a flawed movie that suffers from a weak performance by Patricia Arquette." John Krewson of The A.V. Club gave it a positive review and wrote that "saps, scientific or otherwise, will enjoy it."