'Infinity' figures to be a trite tale of two mathematicians

Matthew Brown's biopic "The Man Who Knew Infinity" joins the ever-growing list of fact-based motion pictures that adjust screenplays so that white protagonists can share credit or even claim credit for the accomplishments of minority characters.

The main lead in this movie is British academic G.H. Hardy, an atheist, bachelor Cambridge University professor played by Jeremy Irons.

He is not, not, not "The Man Who Knew Infinity."

That man is India-born mathematical prodigy Srinavasa Ramanujan.

Talented Indian actor Dev Patel (you remember him from "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel") plays Ramanujan, whose contributions to number theory were so complex and groundbreaking that the work he accomplished during the last year of his shortened life (he died at 32) were discovered in 1970, and are today used to explain and study black holes in the universe.

He's apparently not accomplished enough to have a movie focused mostly on him.

"The Man Who Knew Infinity" begins with Hardy's voice-over narration, waxing romantic about his mathematical soul mate, Ramanujan, while establishing himself as the alpha mathematician.

"I feel too much!" Hardy wails. He compares Ramanujan to Galileo.

Hardy, if we are to believe the accuracy of Brown's rather trite screenplay, certainly helped Ramanujan by getting him to Cambridge, acquainting him with English customs and advising him on Cambridge traditions. (Only fellows in good standing may walk on the quad grass!)

But he merely assisted Ramanujan in his peerless, fearless mathematical theories and equations, which unfortunately this movie deals with on a superficial level, vaguely referring to "partitions" and "primes," and constantly mentioning his brain power to remind us he's a genius.

"The Man Who Knew Infinity" whisks us through Ramanujan's early life in 1913 India as a poor young man whose obsession with numbers drives him to contact Hardy and change his life.

The obligatory romantic subplot is supplied by beguiling actress Devika Bhise as Janaki, the mathematician's arranged wife, left behind for years as her husband pursues figures other than hers.

Ramanujan suffers through English food, English weather, World War II bombings, racist bullies and terrible illness. But he can count on Hardy, his mentor and friend, to stay strong, despite opposition from other members of the faculty, which includes eminent academic Bertrand Russell (played by an amiable Jeremy Northam).

Although both Patel and Irons slip effortlessly into the skins of their characters, their performances are stuck in another standard-issue fish-out-of-water tale in which a minority member constantly is being helped, promoted and protected by a white male character higher up on the authority power ladder.

Already this year, we've had the leading character in Don Cheadle's directorial debut "Miles Ahead" - a biopic about trumpet legend Miles Davis - compromised by Ewan McGregor's completely fictional white male colead.

At least the white colead in "The Man Who Knew Infinity" really existed.

“The Man Who Knew Infinity”

★ ★ ½

Starring: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons, Jeremy Northam, Devika Bhise

Directed by: Matthew Brown

Other: An IFC Films release. Rated PG-13 for smoking. 108 minutes