The Imitation Game Movie Review

Well the Oscar nominations are out, and I've only reviewed half of the 8 films nominated for Best Picture. I'd thought I'd try to put that right, kicking off with The Imitation Game.

The Imitation Game is directed by Morten Tyldum and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing. Turing is a genius. While he may be socially awkward and inherently difficult to cooperate with, he still has one of the brightest minds in a time where Britain and the other Allies needed to find any possible advantage over Nazi Germany during the bloody confrontation of World War 2. Turing is assigned to crack the German "enigma code" by creating his own machine. But the film, like the character of Alan Turing, is not as simple as that.

The movie poster phrase "Behind every code is an enigma" is perfect in every essence in terms of describing what this film is about. While the film devotes a lot of screen time to the cracking of this enigma code, the film's real emotional gravitas comes from the character of Turing himself. Turing is a homosexual man living in a time where he could be chemically castrated for it, a feat which tragically did occur. The scenes where Turing and the other characters, which by the way is completed by an amazing supporting ensemble, were much less interesting to me that this.

Turing was the man whose machine we have based modern computers on, he has impacted your lives in more ways than you think. Not only that, the work he and his co-workers committed to for countless months on end resulted in the Allie's seize of momentum during WW2's final years. However, despite Turing's genius and perseverance, he was castrated, targeted by the media and lived in shame for the rest of his life before he eventually took it from himself.

The Imitation Game delivers its message perfectly. While I was interested in how they cracked the enigma code, I was way more devoted in the "other" side of the story. Although in real life the work they were doing was of tremendous importance, for me the tension never really escalated to as high as it should have done.

Benedict Cumberbatch is Oscar worthy and he is worth his nomination just as much as any of the other nominees. The supporting cast all do great work here, Keira Knightley in particular.  The acting from everybody is excellent, although whenever Cumberbatch is not on screen the film feels incomplete without him. It's almost as if Cumberbatch himself makes the film better than it should actually be.

There are pacing issues for sure, there are times where supporting characters are given time to despite the fact that Alan Turing is the emotional crux of the film and the scenes which revolved around the investigation and the impact on himself surrounding his sexuality were far more engrossing and emotionally investing than the other scenes. But it's a well directed film with a lead performance which solidifies Benedict Cumberbatch's status as one of the best actors working today. The Imitation Game is definitely worth your time:


Rating - B


Reviews for American Sniper, Selma and The Theory of Everything are coming soon!

Thanks for reading,
Matt