Review of The Imitation Game (2014) by Gordon H — 15 Feb 2016

Cumberbatch is magnificent!

Loosely based on the biography, 'Alan Turing: The Enigma,' by Andrew Hodges, 'The Imitation Game' stars Benedict Cumberbatch as real-life British cryptanalyst Alan Turing, who was instrumental in decrypting German intelligence codes for the British government during World War II, and Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke, a recent Cambridge graduate who assisted in Turing's breakthrough.

I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller of a film based on Turing's life and how important he was to the effort of turning the tide against the Germans during the dark days of World War II in England. However, the real story of the film was how Turing was treated after the war and it was discovered that he had homosexual tendencies. Although he never acted on those feelings, his breakthroughs and brilliance at solving the Enigma problem were largely ignored until well after his death due to the stigma of homosexuality. Turing committed suicide at the age of 41 because of the State-ordered hormone enhancement therapy he was undergoing at the time. Truly a sad story. But Cumberbatch is magnificent---equally capturing the heroic aspect of Turing's life and the tragedy inherent in his sexual tendencies. Truly an Oscar-worthy performance!