THE IMITATION GAME follows the story of Alan Turing- brilliant mathematician, cryptoanalyst, and father of the computer.   It is a remarkable and tragic tale where the movie focuses on his time in boarding school in 1928, his time during World War II at Bletchley Hall where he created the first computer to crack the Nazi’s Enigma Machine code, and a robbery in 1952 which lead me being persecuted for being homosexual (back in the days where it was seen as gross indecency with the option of either jail or chemical castration).   Benedict Cumberbatch is fantastic in the role of Alan Turing and displays the isolated loner personality where he really didn’t know how to interact with people that well- an outsider with a mind that goes places where no one else can imagine.  His new friend during the World War 2 years is a smart independent working woman Joanna Clarke (Keira Knightley) who he even becomes engaged to.

 

THE IMITATION GAME has a great cast, a quiet and sometimes aloof performance by Benedict Cumberbatch who nails his role perfectly as Turing, and Knightley is a good counterpoint to Cumberbatch’s Turing where you almost believe they could fall in love.   The back and forth nature of the story is a little off putting at first because I would have been fine to have THE IMITATION GAME deal with the World War 2 years of Alan Turing.  The movie does have lot of historical inaccuracies and it seems not to portray Turing correctly, but it does give a good tale and hopefully inspire people to read about the actual Alan Turing.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio commentary by director Morten Tyldum and screenwriter Graham Moore

 

Two deleted scenes including the original ending which they wisely cut

 

THE MAKING OF THE IMITATION GAME is a promotional piece that has interviews with cast, crew, and experts on Alan Turing.

The better way to learn about the movie is through the audio commentary and the 30 minutes of Q&A Highlights with the filmmakers, the editor, production designer, costume designer, and even Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley.

 

Also included is a code to download and stream a Digital HD Ultraviolet copy of the movie.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  THE IMITATION GAME is a great tragic story about the intelligent outsider/ war hero Alan Turing (despite all of the historical inaccuracies for dramatic license).  It is a one of the best movies of 2014 by a distance.

 

This review is ©4-2-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com