Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing wins The Imitation Game

Benedict Cumberbatch probably has the most English name ever to exist. He’s been prolific as of late in films, TV series, and even voice work for animated or CG characters. Simply put, he’s on fire. It’s hard to think of anyone more in demand in prestige projects and blockbusters both. He is simply magnificent here as Alan Turing cracking the German Enigma code machine during WWII. Turing is a severely under-appreciated historical figure. His work in cracking the German messages by creating one of the first early computers saved millions of lives and helped bring Europe out from under years of devastating war. His legacy in electronics, math, and computers is unmatched. He is a huge reason we live in the modern world we do today. Cumberbatch is the main reason to show up for this film. The story is great and inspiring. The moment they finally crack the code will make you want to cheer. It is also rather heart rending because Turing was a homosexual and in the 1940s and 50s that meant he was considered a criminal. Really if you don’t know much about Turing first go watch this film and then hit the google machine and look into his amazing career. This is a man that deserves all the admiration there is.

The movie tells a story inspired by Turing’s time at a military research and intelligence park in the South of England mostly taking place in 1940-1943. However there are also flashbacks to his time at school in 1928 and flash-forwards to just before his death in 1954. This is a good framing narrative so that the movie never loses its pace and keeps you interested about various parts about Turing’s life, his motivations and his struggles. The filmmakers luckily don’t shy away from Turing’s homosexuality at all. They embrace that part of his life and make compelling storytelling from it. They also don’t make it his defining characteristic, it’s just his sexual orientation. Just like a heterosexual character doesn’t have that trait dominate their life, Turing’s homosexuality isn’t all of who he is, it’s an important part sure, but it’s just one part. It really tells more of the society he is working in and others perceptions of it than it does him. It makes for the saddest parts of the film, particularly in the early and late parts of his life.

It also makes for an interesting relationship with co-worker, friend and fiancee Keira Knightley’s Joan Clarke. I can’t speak highly enough of Knightley’s performance here. It is just as good as Cumberbatch’s and doesn’t have the luxury of pulling from such a historic figure. People don’t realize how good Knightley is. Most think she is just some action star girl accessory in The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. This is a wrong perception. Her work in such top notch films as Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, Never Let Me Go, and A Dangerous Method set her apart from her peers. She’s only 29 and we have a lot more great performances to look froward to from her. I suspect she’ll earn a nomination for Best Supporting Actress this year, though winning will be tough with Patricia Arquette leading things with Boyhood. Both she and Cumberbatch will walk away with Oscar gold someday, just not this year.  Alexander Desplat though might have the edge for Best Original Score though. My vote might go to Hans Zimmer’s work for Interstellar, but you can’t deny how great the score is here and what an amazing talent Desplat is. I just recently watched Roman Polanski’s Venus in Fur and Desplat scored that as well to equally great results. Desplat will also likely be considered for The Grand Budapest Hotel and Unbroken, which I intend to see sometime this week. He’s been nominated six times already so it’s probably time he win already.

The remainder of the cast is a who’s who of popular British actors, Matthew Goode, Allen Leech (from Downton Abbey), Mark Strong, and Charles Dance (from Game of Thrones). They are all solid supporting characters and all shine particularly when they are interacting with Cumberbatch’s Turing and don’t have as much to do when playing off the other supporting characters. Only Matthew Goode gives his best work with the other supporting cast. There have been complaints that they are not portrayed true to history and that the story takes too many liberties. The story does bend the truth quite a bit, but only to make a more interesting story. The Enigma code is formidable foe but it would make for a poor film just showing the intense efforts to defeat it, there has to be real human obstacles and interactions that drive the plot. They also have to be interesting and emotional. So that’s why I usually always give filmmakers and writers the freedom they need to keep the spirit of history while taking liberties to get the story to a wider audience. If you want the true story you’ll need to read a biography, but if you want to feel something and enjoy historical bio-pic filmmaking then watch this.  This movie comes highly recommended and tells a story about WWII (a subject that is overdone) that not everyone knows. It’s n about 800 theaters so it’s probably close enough to you to get out and see it, you should make that effort. You’ll be rewarded.