A good tale with a fine lead performance, even if it doesn't delve into details, or worry too much about historical accuracy

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2015)

I watched another film about the Enigma code recently, and it reminded me that I had not yet seen this one. It is a story I was broadly aware of – not to the point of having read the book, but certainly knowing the general sweep of the events. In a way this does suit the film, because it does brush across the main events in the life of Turning, rather than really delve too deeply into specifics. So we get key childhood moments, the stresses and moral conundrums of breaking the code, and of course his horrific treatment and death due to his sexuality.
With this approach the film is actually very well structured as it mixes the global and the personal, as well as combining several running time periods (in a nicely edited construction). As such it is a solid and engaging story, which manages to fold together the central impact made by Turning, the roots of some of his character, and the sad treatment of him at the (early) end of his life. Of course as with any biopic, the film runs a lot together, simplifies wherever it can, and I guess probably will bother those that know the source material / real story inside out (as these things always do). For me I am always happy for such sacrifices being done in the name of a good story, just so long as the film does a good job of telling that story (it is not a documentary, and there are plenty of sources for that). In the case of this film, I think it works, because it is well told and engaging.
The lead performance from Cumberbatch is the hook that a lot of it hangs on. He is convincing in his awkward difficultness but yet genius. He is perhaps not particularly well supported by Knightley, although to be fair this is not just down to her but perhaps more to do with how generic her character is. Outside of these two, the supporting turns are solid from those such as Kinnear, Strong, Dance, Goode, Leech, and others. Production values are high throughout, and the direction manages to get a lot of tension out of people in a room thinking – which is pretty hard to deliver as a cinematic experience.
All told, it is a handsomely crafted film, with a fine lead performance, and a story that, although probably greatly simplified, is well told and engaging.