'The Imitation Game' is not always historically accurate, but it is still a excellent film with an Oscar-worthy performance from Cumberbatch

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2015)

"Oh, because I'm sitting in a police station, accused of entreating a young man to touch my penis, and you've just asked me if machines can think." "Well, can they?"
Ever since I had seen the promos, watched some TV spots and trailers, and read about who Alan Turing was, I was immensely excited for this film. I'm a homosexual myself, so hearing the story of a man who had gone on to create such an important piece of history, while being a homosexual, sounded quite amazing. What furthered my interest more what Graham Moore's speech at the Oscars after winning Best Adapted Screenplay for the film: "Stay weird, stay different," he said. I simply couldn't wait any longer. Sadly, I did not get to see the film in theaters and it greatly upset me, as I was still very intrigued in the film. My mother, however, being the lovely woman that she is, bought me the Blu-Ray, and I finally got around to watching it. So, after all of this, is this the movie I wanted to see?
The Imitation Game chronicles the true story of Alan Turing, a professor, closeted homosexual, and mathematician, through three points of his life: one when he was a child, and fell in love with his only friend at school, one when he is a year away from the end of his life as his being a homosexual comes to light, and the most focused upon: the quest to, along with a group of Britain's best mathematicians, solve the Nazi machine Enigma, which could help them win the war.
Let's start off with the acting. Benedict Cumberbatch is a revelation as Alan Turing, playing him in such a tremendous way that, much like with Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, I didn't see Cumberbatch, I saw Alan Turing. Keira Knightley did a great job as well, portraying the only woman who was a part of the cryptography team. Matthew Goode was also great, and sometimes the comic relief of the film, as Hugh Alexander. Allen Leech plays John Cairncross and does a fantastic job. So does Rory Kinnear. I usually go on more about the acting, but what did you really expect with a cast this great?
The music by Alexandre Desplat is just brilliant, and easily one of the best scores of 2014. I've been listening to it over and over and it's still just as brilliant as when I first heard it. It's just so fitting of the film, and when you hear it, it makes you feel as if you are just as much a genius as Turing was. The screenplay was top notch, as well. Some, as I've witnessed, have called the film "boring," but I'm of the belief that a film can never be boring as long as it has a great script or great action. This script was brilliant, funny when it needed to be, and just as dramatic as it needed to be sometimes. Graham Moore deserved the Oscar.
The film's look is just brilliant. It never mutes the colors, it just downplays them. The color palette in this film is very vibrant, and looks that way except for scenes of the actual war going on around them, then it looks a bit more bleak. I really enjoyed two of the timelines they focused on: the past, which was brilliant in showing slowly how much his past at school influenced what he was doing as he tried to crack the Enigma, and the Enigma solving itself. The one timeline I didn't enjoy (until the end) was the timeline of him in the future, after everything had happened. It just felt like it was taking away from the story we most wanted to see: the cracking of the Enigma.
One other thing I should mention: the historical accuracy of the film. Now, I've read up on the film a bit, and it's not exactly historically accurate, but if the film is good, why does it matter? I mean, honestly. The film may not be entirely accurate, sure, but what it's done is made me more interested in the story of Alan Turing and the injustices he faced not only in his lifetime, but in the afterlife as well. I mean, if a historical drama/thriller can do that, then it doesn't exactly matter if the film is entirely accurate, right? It's a film, not a documentary.
Overall, The Imitation Game is a brilliant film. The music, the acting, especially from Cumberbatch, the editing, the script, the look, and the jumping of timelines were all done greatly. Although I didn't particularly enjoy the cutting of the future in with the past, the entire film is one that, while not always historically accurate, always manages to entertain and managed to make me more interested in Turing's life. If a film can do that, then I'm instantly sold.
---- 10/10. Grade: A