Kicking off 2015 with a bang, The Imitation Game seems to be getting things off to a good start. A pseudo-documentary about World War 2 and The Enigma Code, this movie sees Benedict Cumberbatch starring as a troubled mathematician who delights in solving puzzles, including the most complicated puzzles of the time.
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, a gifted cryptographer and mathematician who is tasked by the Allied Governments to solve the "puzzle" of Enigma, the German code language. Set in three time periods (his childhood, during the war and post war), this movie sets Alan up as a tragic figure, not able to understand much of the world around him and always unintentionally insulting everyone around him.
The movie then follows Alan through his trials of trying to work with his team to solve Enigma by making a computer. This includes his charismatic former boss, generals who are beholden to the chain of command (who Alan uses against them) and being a homosexual in a time that they were persecuted. Benedict Cumberbatch puts in his normal solid performance into this role. The only criticism is in some scenes he seems to overact his part.
This may be a product of the screenplay, however. As the movie moves towards its tragic final note, the writers seem to want to make more speeches and actions by Alan monumental speeches or actions. Where the movie could have used a scene or two more in between of Alan being a bit more laid back to contrast against the rising intensity, instead the next speech by Alan seems to try to outdo the previous one in terms of showing his detachment from the world or being suitable "quotable". This is a very minor quibble and, for the most part, the movie is well paced until its endings.
The endings are where the tragedy of Alan's life plays out. This movie goes the Lord of the Rings route of having about 4-5 different end points. Every ending, however, continues to be more tragic and depressing than the previous one. This movie definitely decided to not end on an uplifting note celebrating post-war Brittain, but the rest of the movie set the foundations well for this depressing ending.
4 out of 5 Mysteries Trapped Within Enigmatic Waffles.
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