Cumberbatch is terrific but the film itself is a jumbled piece of storytelling

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2015)

Alan Turning, the man, the legend...he single handedly built the world's first computer and helped win WWII for the Allies due to his discoveries only to be sought out as a spy when in reality the only double life he was leading was that of a homosexual. The Imitation Game chronicles his discovery and his ultimate medical torture as British Parliament tries to "rid him" of his homosexuality. This is a heart wrenching biopic that really is a mere showcase of how good Benedict Cumberbatch is as an actor. Despite this very talented showcase, The Imitation Game achieves very little during its two hour runtime other than letting us know, sometimes a bit too heavily, that Cumberbatch is an amazing actor. Working from Graham Moore's impeccable BlackList script, Morten Tyldum tries to make this film more of an espionage thriller but it couldn't be further from that. The Imitation Game is a character study and straight biopic that falls into the well treaded clichés that make up the genre. The story is slow moving, and extremely jumbled as it jumps from 1951 to 1939 a little too often, making it very hard to end up caring about each storyline in their own rights. While I commend Tyldum's work here with his actors, he misses the mark in telling this engaging story. Instead, he throws most of the load on Cumberbatch. Any other actor would have probably crumbled under such pressure but Cumberbatch rises to not only give the performance of his career but the performance of a decade. Cumberbatch as Turning isn't very likable, but he is articulate, shy and extremely intelligent and Cumberbatch uses that to his advantage. His performance as Turning is somber, articulate and intelligent, much like the man he is portraying. It is a marvelous performance that makes the film worth watching based solely on that. The supporting cast is decent here, Kiera Knightley is very good in this film as she plays Joan Clarke, a woman that tries desperately to get close to Turning throughout the course of the 1939 storyline. Other actors include Matthew Goode, Charles Dance and Mark Strong. Each of them are decent in their roles but pale in comparison to Cumberbatch. Overall, while The Imitation Game may have one of the best performances of the year in it, it doesn't make up for its jumbled narrative.