The Man Who Knew Infinity (2016)

It's the early 20th century. Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel) is an Indian with no higher learning degrees. He struggles to get his math papers published. He leaves behind his disbelieving mother and loving wife for Cambridge. British mathematics professor G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons) mentors him but often dismisses his intuitive leaps for more rigorous proofs. Being homesick and suffering actual sickness, he struggles against the entrenched establishment and outright prejudice as WWI engulfs the world.It's a tale of inspiration but there isn't much drama in its telling. It is utterly conventional without tension. Patel and Irons do yeoman's work bringing life to these real people. There is simply no whiz bang flash to liven up the story. There is no end goal. Almost everything is done with unyielding conventionality. A little flash from Ramanujan is the biggest emotional lift. Otherwise, it remains mostly flat and predictable.

A moving account of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the genius mathematician who rose out of poverty in India to solve problems believed to be unsolvable, and whose profound insights have altered math all the way up to the present day. The cast is very strong, led by Dev Patel in the role of Ramanujan, and including Jeremy Irons as his mentor G. H. Hardy and Devika Bhise as the wife he leaves behind in India to study at Trinity College in Cambridge. Director Matt Brown captures some great shots in both Madras and Cambridge, and effectively transformed the biography of Ramanujan into a screenplay which is nuanced and much more than math.It is fascinating to see the mentor obviously surpassed by the student (and knowing it), but trying to temper creative genius with the need to grind out proofs, but the movie also includes the dynamics of conservative and liberal politics at the time leading up to WWI, love and sacrifice, and atheism and faith. It also has the ugly racism Ramanujan encountered, as well as shows how hard it was for him to adapt to being in England. There is a human element here, as well as a spiritual element. "There are patterns in everything. The color in light, the reflections in water... in math, these patterns reveal themselves in the most incredible form. It's quite beautiful," he says. Another time, after Hardy has taken a taxi with the number 1729 on it and mentioned that the number is rather dull, Ramanujan comments "No, it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways", which is a true anecdote.It's hard to fathom those singular few, who out of billions of people who have been born have such extraordinary gifts. It's not hyperbole to put Ramanujan in the same class as Mozart and Newton, and it's heartbreaking that he died at the age 32. How fantastic is it that this movie honors him, and is so well made. Don't believe the negative reactions ("boring", "slow", "routine", etc), but the film is quiet and intelligent – which I found not only understandable but appropriate given the subject matter (hey it's not Iron Man folks). If that's not your thing, though, you should probably look elsewhere.

Considering the fact that I am a distant relative of the great Srinivasa Ramanujam,I really can't express extent of the justice which was done to him through this film.it is greatness like this which can is indefinable,it's a country like ours which mostly goes unrecognized owing to the great miraculous things we have achieved.this is a tale to tell and I am proud to be belonging to a country where this legend took breath.my family is very proud to have this movie about this esteemed countrymen of ours.my aunt showed me a picture of the hut he was living in,I couldn't help but breakdown considering such a genius from such simple backgrounds.always it's the people whom no one expects anything of ,who do things that no one can imagine and I am destined to live in an era of such great people.thank you God.

An Indian actor would have been a good idea, rather than a partially Indian but obviously white actor who spent a LOT of time in a tanning booth. It took a while to unsee Ted. The life of this dude was incredible and tragic and now my heart hurts (in a good, cathartic sort of way). I wouldn't be surprised if the whole movie was a cringe for the author to watch, though. I'm skeptical of the math, I wish they would explain how Ramanujan Overall I somewhat enjoyed this movie but I will never watch it again.