The Imitation Game Movie Review

"Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."

-Alan Turning

"Do you know, this morning I was on a train that went through a city that wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you. I bought a ticket from a man who would likely be dead if it wasn't for you. I read up, on my work, a whole field of scientific inquiry that only exists because of you. Now, if you wish you could have been normal... I can promise you I do not. The world is an infinitely better place precisely because you weren't."

-Joan Clarke

I really couldn't decide on one quote for this review like I usually do, so I just used both! This was such a powerful film for me and it wrapped up the list of this years Best Picture nominees. This biopic shows us the work of Alan Turning, a British mathematician who lived during the second world war. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Alan Turning, the man who shaved an estimated two years off of the war, saved fourteen million lives in doing so, and invented a machine that later evolved into the computer. Cumberbatch had some exceptional shoes to fill and I think he did an exceptional job in doing so. The film was directed by Morten Tyldum and co-starred Keira Knightley, Charles Dance, Mark Strong and Matthew Goode, to name a few.

We begin with Cumberbatch's iconic voice narrating in the background, preparing us for an epic story of sorts. (Smaug is that you?) There are few points within the film where he narrates and they all help in furthering our understanding of this mans life. From the start we see that Alan isn't the most amicable person. He doesn't seem to have people skills and comes off as rude and very cocky. He is very self-aware of his skills and intelligence and decides to interview for a job at Bletchley Park, a code-breaking center during the war. Alan is interviewed by Commander Denniston who immediately isn't very fond of Turning but can't turn away his genius. A top secret team of mathematicians is formed at Bletchley Park tasked to crack the German enigma. Once broken, the Allied Powers would be able to decipher the German secret codes and gain a strategical advantage over the enemy. Once Turing takes lead of the team he seeks out new team members, one of them being Joan Clarke. She is the only woman on the team, but is just as good, if not better than most of her peers.

The Imitation Game uses flashbacks very nicely in giving us insight into Turning as a child and why he became the man he was. He was severely bullied in boarding school due to being a social outlier and being much smarter than most of his peers. He befriends a boy named Christopher who becomes his first real friend. Christopher introduces him to the subject of cryptography and over the course of their friendship Alan develops feelings for him. In a flash forward to after the war we see Alan being investigated by the police after a break-in into his house. As you may or may not know, being a homosexual and partaking in homosexual activities was against the law in Britain at this time, so it was crucial for Turing to keep his private life extra private. Just like the puzzles he solved, the film comes to together by the end in a very bitter-sweet way. As mentioned previously, Alan didn't really play well with others and had a hard time working with his team. He begins working on a machine that he truly believes will crack the enigma. He tirelessly works on it day and night while the rest of the team try to solve it their own way. Relationships form over the course of them working together, especially one between Alan and Joan. The film focuses on the importance of their friendship and it's one of the more emotional aspects of the film.

As with any other war film, their is tragedy and loss. Even though Alan was not on the front lines fighting the war, he was fighting his own personal war behind the scenes. Struggling to crack the enigma really took a toll on him mentally and emotionally and even after succeeding, Turning never really felt whole. I think The Imitation Game does a great job of exposing the flaws within our society. Even though they may not be as prevalent as they were 70 years ago, they still exist and still matter. At the root I think this movie is about love and acceptance. It's about an untold war hero that was shamed over something that was out of his control. It's both heartwarming and heartbreaking and Cumberbatch was phenomenal in evoking these emotions. The Imitation Game was a fantastic movie and I give it a 9.5 out of 10. I highly recommend this film to everyone, because not knowing about this mans life is robbing yourself of something beautiful.