Movie review: ‘The Imitation Game’

Stephen Hawking and Alan Turing had much in common.

The two groundbreaking British scientists possessed a knack for out-of-the-box thinking while simultaneously dealing with intense personal struggles. Now, both are the subjects of biopics hitting theaters at the same time -- The Theory of Everything for Hawking and The Imitation Game for Turing. Unfortunately, that’s where their similarities end as Hawking, despite dealing with ALS, became a science superstar while Turing, gay at a time when it was forbidden, committed suicide in relative obscurity in 1954 at the age of 41.

But Turing may finally be getting what he deserves as the straightforward and well-acted The Imitation Game, featuring a strong performance from Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing, should shine the spotlight on the man who helped develop the field of computer science and spearheaded the effort to break Germany’s previously unfathomable Enigma code in WWII.

As directed by Norway’s Morten Tyldum (who made the tensely satisfying and more surprising thriller Headhunters, one of the best movies of 2012) and written by Graham Moore (based on Andrew Hodges’ book Alan Turing: The Enigma), The Imitation Game is an entertaining and enlightening history lesson though it makes his sexuality a footnote to his career.

Set in wartime England, the film first shows us Turing as an awkward and abrasive man who comes close to blowing his job interview as part of the British government’s code-breaking team since he seems to have no social skills whatsoever. Once on the team, he alienates nearly everyone, especially colleague Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode, The Good Wife) who fancies himself Alan’s superior.

But Turing’s not without his good qualities. Even his adversaries admit he has a talent for solving mathematical quandaries. He welcomes a woman on the team (a convincing Keira Knightley) when others are skeptical and he certainly remains vulnerable, still carrying the emotional scars of an unrequited love for a former schoolmate, Christopher (Jack Bannon), who had died many years before.

Cumberbatch is expert at catching the duality at Turing’s core though the story emphasizes the outfoxing the Germans angle over plumbing deep into Turing’s sexual history. Still, that doesn’t stop The Imitation Game’s conclusion from being moving.

Interest in Turing’s life has been building for a while -- a play about him, Breaking the Code, played London’s West End, Broadway, and on PBS in the ‘80s -- but The Imitation Game will have broader reach, perhaps even up to the Oscars. After all, it’s this kind of worthy project Academy voters love.

If he were still around, maybe Turing would have considered this cracking one of the most indecipherable codes of all: Hollywood.

This story was originally published December 22, 2014 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Movie review: ‘The Imitation Game’."