The Imitation Game (2014) - Review Thread

Every Oscar season brings a few major contenders which also happen to be shamelessly obvious Oscar-bait films. This year, those two films are The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game. The former especially seemed to be solely designed to appeal to the Academy, but I did have some genuine interest in the latter. The film is based on the life of Alan Turing, who led a very interesting and dynamic life during very dramatic times. The casting of Benedict Cumberbatch and a strong collection of supporting actors was also very promising, and I had hopes that The Imitation Game would be able to transcend the Oscar-bait label and be a genuinely strong film on its own merits.

At the dawn of World War Two, British Intelligence assembles a series of communications experts with the goal of cracking the German’s Enigma code machine. Doing say will allow the British to access the German communications and give them a crucial advantage in the war effort. The most prominent of these experts is Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), a highly intelligent but socially awkward young man. Turing does not initially get along with his co-workers, but they came to respect his genius. Turing’s central idea is to build a machine which will cipher through German communications and crack the code. Another important element to the film is Turing’s relationship to co-worker Joan Clark (Keira Knightely) and is homosexuality, of which he faced discrimination for after the war.

The thing about Alan Turing that makes his life so ripe for exploring is the many layers of his life. He was crucial to the war effort, a victim of homosexual persecution, an eccentric and socially awkward individual, and the father of modern computers. Most biopics only have one really interesting/important detail, but Turing’s life brings a lot more to the screen. Sure enough, the film is able to look at a number of interesting aspects of the man’s life and I was particularly intrigued by the material relating to ethics in war. Unfortunately this becomes a double edged sword in that the film has so much it’s never able to focus or find its groove. The script jumps from so many different aspects and time periods that a viewer gets a decent impression of the various elements, but there is never any real depth or insight. It all just feels rushed, and by the end I’m not entirely sure what the ultimate point director Morten Tyldum really wanted to get across. Is this a film about ethics, persecution of minorities, humanity, the creation of computers? Well, it’s about all of those things, but it’s also not really about any of them. I can’t help but wonder how this would have ended in the hands of a real master. First and foremost, I think the film should have been restructured with its flashbacks and flash-forwards for smoother pacing. Additionally, there are flashbacks to Turing as a child which should have been cut completely since they ultimately add very little and give the film more of a generic biopic feel.

Much as I do think The Imitation Game is something of a mess, it is a very watchable one. The film moves quickly and is generally well-made. The production values are certainly respectable and the costumes are period appropriate. The film is also pretty well-shot and while some of the CGI during the war scenes seemed a bit off, it wasn’t really prevalent enough to be a distraction. The film also has a fair bit of humour and lighter moments, which make it very digestible for a wide audience. A lot of the humour is actually pretty witty too, although this too causes a problem as jokes will hit and then immediately followed by attempted moments of the horrors and responsibilities of war, and the attempted pathos doesn’t really work. Still, the film is very watchable and I imagine the film will be pretty successful with general audiences.

Probably the most discussed aspect of The Imitation Game is Benedict Cumberbatch’s work in the lead. Cumberbatch has been a rising star for a while thanks to both a passionate fandom and genuine acting chops. His work here is pretty good. Cumberbatch embodies the personality of Alan Turing pretty well. He has some great socially awkward mannerisms and he delivers the emotional moments pretty well. Thing is, I’m not quite convinced that this is a transformative or truly complex performance. The character is written a bit broadly and I can’t say I was ever blown away by Cumberbatch is work. Don’t get me wrong; watching him is indeed a highlight, but that more has to do with his natural skill as an actor than this performance in particular. He is very good, but given the attention and accolades he’s been receiving, I was a little underwhelmed. Additionally, I remember finding some of his anti-social, borderline autistic behaviour to be a little silly and over the top, and sure enough, research has revealed much of this wasn’t so. The real Turing may not have had major social skills, but he was much more well-adjusted than this depiction would lead you to believe. Keira Knightley has also been getting a lot of attention for her performance, and she too is pretty good bringing a natural charm, wit, as well as emotional delivery. However, like Cumberbatch, it isn’t an amazing or truly transcendent performance. It’s a very respectable piece of acting from a very talented actress though, and she does work well in the film.

The Imitation Game is mostly an enjoyable watch, but it falls victim to a lot of the problems these prestige biopics tend to. Namely, the film trades in depth and complexity for more of an easily digestible recap of the subject’s life, and while the work is always respectable, it’s never truly powerful. In short, it’s very middlebrow, and I also think the film is kind of a mess. Still, it’s never a boring movie. It’s mostly well done, and I think Turing’s real life is so interesting that it be hard to make a movie about him that wasn’t a little bit interesting. Overall, I imagine wide audiences will probably respond to this, but this is ultimately a pretty average film that will be forgotten once this Oscar season has passed, even if it is relatively enjoyable in the moment.

C+

Dead on.