The Imitation Game

This review may contain spoilers!

A film that basically sets the bar for acting this year. I would give The Imitation Game an 8/10.

The Imitation Game is a very intricate plot that depicts a highly engaging recount of Alan Turing's life. The musical score within this film is staggering, it really does capture the emotion of the film right up until the fire scene at the end. The shots of this film really felt quite humble in how they were paced but had such attention to the characters that it gave this character piece film the exact edge it needed.

Keira Knightley, who played Joan Clark, was a truly brilliant role; it was a great display of a female character in a world where the men are quick to judge themselves superior. Matthew Goode, who played Hugh Alexander, was quite suave; his arrogance and hot temper really gave this role a lot of depth beyond mere rival turned friend. Charles Dance, who played Commander Denniston, gave a very empowered performance as a strong military leader; his presence felt like that of an antagonist but one through Turing's eyes. Mark Strong, who played Stewart Menzies, gave a very restrained performance as a leading member of MI6; his cunning and slightly dark performance made his character seem all the more tactical.

It isn't very often that I'll have the best actor of my reviews be so close between reviews and I don't believe I have ever had a best actor twice in a row. Today I break that. I have no doubt in my mind as to why the Academy deemed Benedict Cumberbatch worthy of a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of Alana Turing; the man simply showed up most performances you'll see this year. He gave depth to a character with such diverse traits, Cumberbatch's depiction of homosexuality and autism was nothing short of inspired.

My problem with this film was that it ran too long, maybe not in the film's pacing but rather in the fact that the film never really upped the stakes by much. The points of tension or conflict were never high enough to create any real danger or threat to the main cast. I also thought how they cut between past and present grew to be a bit confused and stilted.

Rory Kinnear, who played Detective Robert Nook, was exactly how Turing described him; which is to say he was unimpressive and I least looked forward to cutting to his particular time period as it added nothing to the plot. Allen Leech, who played John Cairncross, wasn't a very interesting character and the big twist that they had using him didn't have much impact. Matthew Beard, who played Peter Hilton, gave a quiet underspoken performance; I frankly didn't care when he gave his speech about his brother as his identity hadn't become prominent within the film. Alex Lawther and Jack Bannon, who played Young Alan Turing and Christopher Morcom respectively, were rather unconvincing child actors and gave a very monotone performance.