Game On!

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2014)

This film is highly recommended.
This year we have witnessed the rebirth of the bio-pic, films that are based on real life people and their "based-on-a-true" story genre. Most have been very sincere and earnest undertakings, telling those life stories with varying results from the superb to the overwrought. The Imitation Game falls into the former category and is one of the best films of the year.
In Morten Tyldum's film, we follow the life of British mathematician and genius Alan Turing, a major force who, along with a team of similarly-minded decoders from Bletchley Park, help to end WWII by decrypting the Germans' top-secret messages called the Enigma Code. This hero fall from grace is the crux of this history lesson and makes for some powerful drama. That Turing also suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, stressing odd behavioral tics, strange mannerisms, and distancing him from others, plus carrying with him an illegal love that dare not speak its name, this solemn character has more than his share of hardships to overcome. That he is played by the resourceful and talented Benedict Cumberbatch only makes the film all the more watchable.
Cumberbatch gives an astonishing performance. The actor zeroes in on his character's eccentricities in his stammers and hesitated speech patterns. His down-turned look and sudden glances add to Turing's many foibles in the most subtle of ways. Keira Knightley plays Joan Clarke, a smart no-nonsense British working girl who befriends Alan makes him become more human. Knightley brings an authenticity and poignancy to her role. Their final heartbreaking scene together has so much more impact due to their natural chemistry together and the nuanced acting choices these gifted performers bring to these two mismatched loving friends. The entire ensemble deserve kudos for their fine support: Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allan Leech, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance (a perfect foe), and Mark Strong. Alex Lawther as a young Alan Turing and Jack Bannon as his friend, Christopher round out this glorious cast.
Director Tyldum crafts a fine film and keeps the exposition to a minimum with effective use of war montages to visualize the era. He paces the film well and builds tension with the emotional and numerical parameters that are set within the limited technology that these crypt-analysts dealt with on a daily basis.
The literate screenplay by Graham Moore tells its story without pandering to its audience. It expects moviegoers to pay attention to the quick-witted dialog and clever exchanges between all of its well drawn characters. The film structure bounces from Turing's childhood to his life after the war and the time-line becomes a tad disconcerting. Alan's private illicit life appears to be downplayed as to be non-existent, a decision that contradicts the film's tragic ending.
The Imitation Game is a timeless and engrossing film that shows the dedication and sacrifice of one man's obsession to do the right thing when all the wrong things finally overwhelm and destroy his own life. Turing's final days will always remain an enigma to the world, that a man who gave so much of himself was given so little respect and love in return. At least this film is a well deserved testament to a great man. GRADE: A-