Inspired by a fascinating true story, Cumberbatch (Emmy winner from BBC’s Sherlock) and his team of expert cryptanalysts crack the Nazi code to help end the war. Its fresh, emotional and eloquent, a true crowd pleasure of 2014. Cumberbatch takes on genius mathematician, Alan Turing. Socially awkward but inevitably smart, Turing travels to London’s Bletchley Park during World War II and gets help from a loyal crew to solve enigma. They did and helped stop the war by two years and saved an estimated 14 million lives because of their determined work. Unfortunately, this was unknown for 50 years because of government secrecy. As for Turing and his crew, they had to burn all of their achievements they had accomplished over the years. And Turning was later persecuted by the British government for his homosexuality because back then it was considered a crime. Sadly, in 1954 he ended his own life because of the persecution against his sexuality. It took a number of years but Turing finally got the respect that he deserved for all of his hard and compassionate work in life. Newcomer Graham Moore writes us a grand spy thriller full of raw emotion and inspiration. He doesn’t dwell over the social treachery by the British government on Turing; instead he focuses on Turing’s story as a human being willing to save millions. Backed by Turing are his devoted group of companions, Hugh Alexander (a decorous Matthew Goode), John Cairncross (Allen Leech) and Peter Hilton (Matthew Beard). The later game-changer to join the team is Joan Clarke (an outstanding Keira Knightley). Cumberbatch and Knightley’s chemistry is an instant spark and Norwegian director Morten Tyldum (Headhunters) helps layer their characters with charm and creativity. These two are terrific to watch on screen together and become even more delightful when Turing ask Clarke for her hand in marriage. Once Turing sees the slowness of human hands on trying to crack enigma its off to the pen and paper to come up with a different plan. He creates the first artificial intelligence we now know as a computer. In real life he called it Bombe, but in the film he names the machine Christopher (I won’t spoil for reasons why). Christopher’s wired brain will help the British solve the mystery lying within enigma. The Nazi’s changed the codes every 24 hours, but once Turing finally got all the kinks knocked out of his code breaker its off to the races. Cumberbatch is breathtaking as the genius behind the numbers. Giving us one of his best and most heartfelt performances of his career thus far. It’s intoxicating to watch him perform on screen. I’m smelling an Oscar nom for him this coming February. In the end, The Imitation Game gets the job done and rightfully tells us this arousing story of a group of people putting their minds together to end the war. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but most importantly it will make you see the beauty lying within the human mind and the amazing sacrifices it will make for others. The Imitation Game is a crowd pleasure and a grade ‘A’ game-changer that helped send 2014 out on a high note. Cheers mate!
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Ryan Arnold
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March 2024
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