Entertaining and Emotional Movie. A shame that the story was Hollywoodized

Rating: 8/10 (25 December 2014)

My wife and I really enjoyed the movie. Unfortunately, too many people including most of the reviewers here forget that it is normal for movies about historical events to be stylized and distorted.
The good is that it shines light on an important historical figure and pioneer in computer technology. Alan Turing made important contributions to the allied effort in WWII. According to Winston Churchill the efforts of Turing and his associates at Bletchley Park shortened the war by years. Although in the United States most people are not that familiar with Mr. Turing's efforts, he is a well known figure in Great Britain and several portrayals of him have been made on British television. The accolades and positive attention have been well deserved.
The bad is that much of the movie is based on events that never happened and portrays individuals in ways that are not accurate. Just a few examples: Mr. Turing is portrayed as some sort of arrogant reclusive introvert who had a lot of difficulties with his interpersonal relationships. In fact those who knew him best say was a sociable person who although he was not flamboyant got along with just about everyone. He was also very close to his family and nieces which is not portrayed in the movie at all.
A dramatic scene in the movie claims Mr. Turing decided how to use the information decoded at Bletchley Park and that he was responsible for deciding who lived and died. This is almost laughable. In fact Mr. Turing and his associates had no known input as to how the information that they provided was used.
The movie portrays a break-in at his apartment as being reported by a neighbor, when in real life Mr. Turing was the one who contacted the authorities. It also has him telling a police officer that he just met all sorts of details about his top secret work... which is also very unrealistic.
Then they imply that the drugs he was required to take to reduce his testosterone levels made it impossible for him to continue his work and caused him to commit suicide. In fact at the time of his death he had been off of the drugs for over a year. His friends, family, and secretary all claim that he had little if any perceived difficulties with the drugs and that at the time of his death he did not appear to be depressed and unable to work and his social and professional calendar was full.
In real life his death came as a shock to his family, friends and co-workers. Many questioned that his death by cyanide poisoning was a suicide. His mother, who he was very close to thought that it might have been accidental through his poor laboratory hygiene. At the time many thought that there may have been some sort of malevolence involved.
There are numerous other inaccuracies... but my wife and I really did enjoy the movie and highly recommend it. Just remember that movies based on actual historical events generally take a lot of artistic license. Go see it and then read up on the actual historical events and about the real Alan Turing... to us the real story is every bit as inspiring as the Movie version.