Hopefully, a movie that inspires people do to research

Rating: 6/10 (20 January 2015)

There's a certain inspired irony in the fact that I had to complete a CAPTCHA image to log into this site in order to leave this review, because without Turing and his famous Turing Test (for distinguishing between computer and human via responses), the concept of the CAPTCHA might not exist now.
It truly is impossible to overstate the man's importance to the world as we know it, and his death at age 41 was a tragic blow to progress the world over. One can not even fathom what our lives would be like right now had he lived longer and developed into his twilight years.
That being said, it is absolutely possible to overstate his accomplishments, as this movie readily shows. My only actual hope is that this movie (this FANTASTICALLY well-made and well-acted movie, mind you) will compel the viewer to at least go to Wikipedia and research the life of the man depicted. Let's count off the major historical problems with this dramatization:

Turing was an oddball,there is no doubt. He would chain his coffee mug to a radiator so no one could steal it, if that gives you any clues. He was hard to understand, but not a misanthrope. He was not a sociopath. He did not alienate every one of his colleagues only to win them back with two minutes of screen time in which he gives his co-workers an apple and an awkwardly bad joke (seriously, movie? THAT's your idea of conflict resolution?)

Turing did not invent the bombe (the electro-mechanical proto-computer used to break the Enigma codes), the Poles did. The English team worked off of the Polish plans, which Turing enhanced. Indeed, the Poles had been breaking Enigma codes for years, trying to stay abreast of the Germans, who would constantly update and alter the machines.

There was no problem getting the bombe built. In fact, everyone in cryptology in the world at the time knew it was impossible to break Enigma by hand, and that a bombe was the only solution there was. Funds /were/ tight, that is true, but the funding problem was solved overnight after the ENTIRE TEAM sent a letter to Churchill, not just Turing. Turing was not made the head of the team in such a way, and did not just fire people outright. There was also not just one bombe. There were dozens upon dozens of the things built, all over England (and indeed, all over the world. The Americans built vastly more codebreaking computers than the English did by the end of the war).

Turing and his team had no control over the information. Everything about MI6 and Turing is a complete fabrication (indeed, it was MI1 which became the organization that Turing joined up to make the Bletchly Park bombe), and the idea that such a team would have any input on military movements is absurd.

Perhaps most importantly, Turing might not have even killed himself. As is shown in the movie (in an oddly subtle nod to truth), Turing worked often and extensively with cyanatic materials (used to smelt gold to make electroplated parts for his computers), and it's entirely feasible that he inhaled the cyanide that killed him rather than intentionally ingesting it. Turing endured his barbaric treatment with good spirits, according to his contemporaries and friends, and never seemed the type to seek suicide. While that's not proof, it's a far cry from the shaking, weeping wreck we see depicted in the film, for the sole intent of tugging the audience's heartstrings and earning undue sympathy. Turing was unable to work for the government after his conviction, but he held his teaching and academic positions until his death, during which time he continued to research and write papers without problem.

Put bluntly, the ending is so callously targeted at the viewer's sensitivities that it's borderline offensive in and of itself. Turing has been held up for decades as an LGBT hero (whether he wanted it or not, it would seem)—and frankly, a character as influential and famous as he doesn't need the help of a Hollywood screenwriter. It cheapens the work of the real figure, and diminishes his influence by turning a legitimate world-changing genius into a pariah, a martyr for a cause that wouldn't even exist for another five decades.
I realize that offering up a review on a site like this is like gobbing into the sea for all the difference it will make, and I'll readily admit that everything except the "based on a true story" elements are fantastic: the acting is top-notch, the cinematography is brilliant, etc, etc, but I hold on to the silent hope that more people will educated themselves about the real man and not take this film at face value.