The young Polish immigrant born Maria Sklodowska and the man who goes on to become her lab partner, husband and the father of her two daughters, French scientist Pierre Curie ( Sam Riley), spend so much time standing around explaining technical things to each other (as well as their feelings) that it almost plays like an episode of 'Drunk History.' And so it’s disappointing that she’s saddled with so much insipid, expository dialogue in Jack Thorne’s script, particularly in the film’s first half. Pike is great in everything and has demonstrated dazzling range, from “ An Education” to “ Gone Girl,” and she’s more than capable of convincing us as Curie that she’s the smartest person in the room at all times-male or female. “Radioactive” gives her plenty of room to be feisty and no-nonsense, fragile and impulsive. Rosamund Pike remains magnetic throughout, however, as the brilliant, two-time Nobel Prize-winning physicist and chemist. But the execution is frustratingly inconsistent, with a time-hopping structure that’s more jarring than thrilling.
With “Radioactive,” Satrapi eschews traditional biopic notions in favor of a more daring approach. In telling the story of Marie Curie, director Marjane Satrapi seems similarly driven to blaze a bright trail of her own.
