‘Imitation Game’ stays true to misfit character

  • By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic
  • Tuesday, December 23, 2014 4:59pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

“The Imitation Game” proves that a gripping true story can survive even the Oscar-bait effect. This is a profile of Alan Turing: British mathematician, codebreaker of Germany’s Enigma device (a feat of decrypting that significantly shortened the Second World War, per Winston Churchill), father of the machines we now call computers.

Turing’s achievements were long kept secret, although he’s been depicted a few times in recent years, including a BBC take with Derek Jacobi (“Breaking the Code,” 1996) and a fictionalized film with Dougray Scott (“Enigma,” 2001). But “The Imitation Game” is bound to prove definitive, if not Oscar-winning.

Here Benedict Cumberbatch plays the brilliant Turing as a borderline-autistic personality, a rude brainiac who fiddles with his big computing machine while his colleagues (led by Matthew Goode, Mark Strong, and Charles Dance — that British acting pool remains deep) stand around scratching their heads.

Turing’s homosexuality only gradually enters the picture, and even when he proposes marriage to fellow codebreaker Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley), it isn’t treated as a really big deal. (At the end of Turing’s criminally shortened life, it is treated as a big deal.)

Even if the movie sketches simplistic conflicts between its principal characters, the wartime world is so meticulously re-created and the stakes so compelling that it emits plenty of movie-movie sparks.

Norwegian director Morten Tyldum ‘s previous film was the ridiculously entertaining “Headhunters,” and although this is a blander affair, it does keep its momentum going. Plus, Cumberbatch and Knightley are a dream couple, thoroughbred actors who can’t wait to get on the track and run.

But the real reason to like this movie is that it’s so diligently pro-weirdo. Remember how “The Social Network,” another study of a difficult egghead, turned away from cold fish Mark Zuckerberg in favor of his cuddlier partner Eduardo Saverin — a figure with whom the audience could more easily identify? “The Imitation Game” doesn’t sell out its main character.

Especially in Cumberbatch’s truly eccentric hands, Turing stays defiantly what he is, an oddball who uses rationality to solve problems. This comes to a dramatic head after Enigma is decoded: The scientists could save Allied lives in the short run by exploiting the enemy’s information, but they don’t because that would tell the Germans that Enigma has been cracked.

Cool heads, and a stiff upper lip, must prevail. The film suggests that Turing does not have to become a nicer person — he beat Enigma and won World War II, so let him be.

“The Imitation Game” (3 stars)

Despite the Oscar-bait trappings, this sketch of the brilliant British codebreaker Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), whose work decoding the Nazi Enigma device shortened WWII, is a ripping true story. The film is pro-weirdo, and doesn’t sell out its difficult, oddball main character. With Keira Knightley.

Rating: PG-13, for subject matter

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.