Cracking the Uncrackable

review by Jack Duggan

            This movie is more than just a film, it is an experience. The Imitation Game directed by Morten Tyldum was based on the true story of Alan Turing.  Alan Turing was the mathematician credited with cracking the Nazi code Enigma.  While working to build a machine to complete the task, Turing faces a number of problems such as, accusations of being a soviet spy, moral dilemmas, and people around him doubting his work.  However, his biggest problem came from being gay.  In the time period of World War II, being homosexual was not accepted as it is today. Benedict Cumberbatch portrayed Alan with the same excellence that can be seen in most of his performances.  This movie was not without flaws, but it was an excellent film. 

            One place where this movie truly shines is the acting.  Other than Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightly, the cast was not full of recognizable faces.  However, that does not hold this movie back in any sort of way.  Matthew William Goode gave one of the best performances of the film.  Like many, Hugh, Goode’s character, did not like Alan Turing when they first met, however as the movie progresses the two become closer.  The acting in this film was almost spot on from every actor and actress.  All the characters felt real, and genuine.  The movie was based on a true story, so all the people in the film did exist in real life, making their problems and struggles even more heartbreaking.

            Another place in which the movie excelled was in character development.  Most characters in the story had a strong character ark.  All main characters showed depth, even one of the minor workers on Alan’s team faced moral problems.  His brother was on a boat the Nazis were planning to attack, and they could stop it because they had broken Enigma, however if they did the Nazis would know the code had been broken and change it.  The heart-breaking decisions such as that one the characters must make really exposes their humanity.  The biggest development in this movie has to be Alan’s.  At the beginning of the film, Alan is unable to understand the other people in his life, he doesn’t even understand jokes.  However, as the movie continues he gains friends, and he starts to truly live.  Unfortunately, he was later wrongly convicted of indecent exposure and put on a treatment to cure his “gayness”.  A year after he killed himself.  While Alan’s story did not end very happy, he had a brief time in his life in which he was part of a family of sorts.  This development is heart wrenching, yet one of the best aspects of this film.

            The Imitation Game did a superb job telling the story of Alan Turing.  It was a complex movie full of themes that truly make the audience think.  The characters were excellently portrayed by every actor in this film, and the development of those characters was truly incredible.  One does not need to find Alan Turing’s story interesting to enjoy this movie, you don’t even need to know who he is going into it.  I strongly recommend all to see this film.