A great British film about a great British man, ImitationGame deserves to be as successful as The King’s Speech (it is certainly as
crowd-pleasing as the Colin Firth powerhouse), and will figure strongly in
awards season, especially at the BAFTAs.
Director Morten Tyldum follows up his breathtaking and breathless
Headhunters with this elegantly-paced, thoughtful and finally moving drama
about the man who designed the Enigma code-breaker.
The film covers some of the
same ground as Enigma but offers more of an insight into Alan Turing, played
with customary excellence by Benedict Cumberbatch (but is he just playing a
shade of Sherlock with a whiff of Dr Who?).
Cross-cutting between key periods in Turing’s life, the film
charts his time at school, his war-winning stay at Bletchley Park, and his
subsequent fall from grace (Rory Kinnear is excellent as the cop who
inadvertently brings Turing down).
Keira Knightley remains an acquired taste to me, but she
fits well here as the only person who can live with Turing’s intellect.
Matthew Goode exudes a natural charm as one of the
code-breakers (somebody give him a really meaty role, please!), while Charles
Dance and Mark Strong get to chew the scenery as the top brass.
Some may find the film a little too of its time, but I think
Tyldum’s approach is perfect: this most British of heroes deserves a most British of movies. Of particular note is the two-part scene in which Turing’s
team break the Enigma code: cue celebrations and then the heart-breaking
realisation of the impact of doing so..
Score: 9/10
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