Benedict Cumberbatch is Alan Turing, the pioneering mathematician and computer scientist. The Imitation Game tells the (based on a) true story of Turing's work at Bletchley Park during World War II, creating a machine that could decode Germany's unbreakable "Enigma" code. Keira Knightley plays Joan Clarke, Turing's collaborator and fiancee. What on the surface sounds like a perhaps-unexciting theme for a movie (codebreakers) instead ends up as a dramatic race against time. Against the backdrop of supply chains being cut off from England and casualties mounting, Turing and his team speed toward finding a solution. Cumberbatch is brilliant here, capturing Turing's volatile behavior and Aspergers-like disdain for social niceties and nuance. The rest of the cast are pretty much just along for the ride but carry their parts well. The movie does play fast and loose with the facts in a couple key areas, which definitely hurts it, particularly in giving Turing too much credit. That said, this is a terrific movie that tells a very important story and tells it well. 8/10.
On a more personal note, I couldn't help but be dismayed by Turing's story. I already knew the key points but seeing him prosecuted and chemically castrated for being gay, eventually driving him to suicide after he grew breasts, up on the big screen brought it all back home again. Such a waste of a brilliant mind that was nowhere close to being done contributing meaningful work. How much further along could we be technology-wise if we hadn't sacrificed one of our brightest minds? :(
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