Exemplary film-making

Rating: 10/10 (14 November 2015)

THE IMITATION GAME is an excellent piece of cinema that proves that there's still an audience for mature, thought-provoking drama. This is British cinema at its finest: superbly written and acted, which tells a series of historical events in an involving way that covers the broad spectrum of cinema.
I love the background of spying and code-breaking so this film's subject matter was right up my street. Alan Turing is a portrayed as a tragic genius character, and Benedict Cumberbatch - although not one of my favourite actors - is perfect in the part. He delivers a character full of quirky mannerisms, whose sheer resistance to normality and likability makes him likable in himself.
The two-hour running time flies past and every scene involved in the film adds to something. Norwegian director Morten Tyldum, who previously made the equally fantastic HEADHUNTERS, shows himself to be a powerful film-making force. The supporting cast are also great, in particular an irascible Charles Dance, MI6 head Mark Strong (thankfully not typecast as a baddie), and Matthew Goode (WATCHMEN) and Allen Leech (ROME) as Turing's companions. By turns moving, gripping, exciting, and heartbreaking, THE IMITATION GAME is a cinematic tour-de-force.