'The Man Who Knew Infinity' is limited by formulaic treatment that adds up to a less-than-great film

The story of self-taught mathematical wizard Srinavasa Ramanujan -- who in 1913 traveled from colonial India to the halls of Cambridge in Britain, shattering stereotypes with his theoretical ingenuity before dying tragically young at 32 -- has already inspired a number of books, plays and films. The latest cinematic treatment, writer-director Matthew Brown's "The Man Who Knew Infinity," is a reverent portrait starring ever-earnest Dev Patel as Ramanujan and Jeremy Irons as his supportive professor, G.H. Hardy. But the movie, a real-life "Good Will Hunting" of sorts, suffers from being nothing like the cultural outlier Ramanujan was: It's one more respectable British biopic following a formula. Early scenes in Madras show the twentysomething wunderkind as a shipping clerk with a young wife (Devika Bhise), filling books and writing equations in chalk on temple floors but with nobody to impress. When Trinity College shows interest, Ramanujan makes the journey, only to be met with skepticism and institutional prejudice outside the deep bond formed with the admiring, disciplined Hardy, who pushes for proofs that will show his inspirations to be merit worthy.