The Imitation Game

Rating: 7/10 (7 February 2015)

The story about the Enigma code is fascinating, not only because of its technical details, but also the colorful persons who were related to it and the huge effect they had in the conclusion of World War II. That's why I was interested in watching a "prestige" film about that topic; however, The Imitation Game ended up being more superficial than I expected in its handling of a theme which might be too arcane for mainstream cinema. In other words, The Imitation Game was afraid to scare the audience with too much science, and it preferred to exaggerate the drama in order to obtain a warmer and more accessible narrative. I understand the making of that decision, but it makes the film feel a bit incomplete. Nevertheless, there are various attributes in The Imitation Game, such as the excellent performances and the well defined characters. And there's also some romance, but I'm glad to say that the resolution of that sub-plot didn't end up being as predictable as I had expected, because it's also employed to reflect on other topics, which are very distant to war and cryptography, but at the same time, equally important in their historical context. Benedict Cumberbatch makes a perfect work in the leading role, transmitting many emotions with his expressive face, and he's well complemented by the rest of the cast. However, I wasn't left completely satisfied by The Imitation Game, because I found its screenplay excessively light and lacking of genuine ambition. Screenwriter Graham Moore made a decent work, but he didn't have the audacity of taking the cryptographic subject as a starting point to create a memorable narrative puzzle, instead of limiting himself to cover the basic requirements of a functional but kinda insipid biopic. Anyway, I think I can give a moderate recommendation to The Imitation Game, because despite not being something special or highly memorable, it has enough positive elements, and it tells an important story for contemporary world, not only for the effects it had on World War II, but also for establishing the bases of the digital culture we nowadays enjoy (or suffer) every day.