Review of The Imitation Game (2014) by Axgrinder — 25 Jan 2015

The story behind the movie is amazing. The injustice suffered by Alan Turig (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is so horrific it’s hard to image that what happened to him occurred little more than 60 years ago.

Unfortunately, the movie just isn’t as interesting as it should be. It feels slow because the story is told in a very safe and old fashioned sort of way. I felt like I was watching Tinker Tailor Solder Spy except there wasn’t any intrigue and I didn’t have to engage my brain to try and figure anything out.

Cumberbatch is very believable in the role of a gay, socially awkward and self-absorbed genius. Charles Dance (in something of a reprise of his role as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones) plays a powerful military commander who simply doesn’t like Turig, much in the way that Tywin Lannister doesn’t like his son Tyrion.

Kiera Knightley is okay as Turig’s genius, old-maid colleague, but her character is rather boring. The most interesting character is that of Mi6 spook Stewart Menzies, (played by Mark Strong, also from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), who knows who everyone is and what they are about, but is using them all for his own purposes and doesn’t really care what they do in their private lives.

I liked the movie because it tells an important story about WWII that I didn’t know, but the movie itself just didn’t “wow” me.