Benedict Cumberbatch is an excellent arse. His Sherlock – cold, complex, insensitive and rude – has won hearts around the world, despite of (or maybe for) being an insufferable jerk. So it’s no surprise Cumberbatch pulls off so winningly the tragic tale of the brilliant, and somewhat uncongenial, British hero Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.
The film tells the story of how Turing, known as the father of the modern-day computer, helped the Brits solve the seemingly impenetrable Nazi code Enigma, and in doing so shifted the tide of World War II.
Cumberbatch is perfect in the role. Like Sherlock, Turing is an unapologetic genius, convinced – rightly so – of his own intellectual superiority. This doesn’t endear him to others. When Turing becomes the stubborn leader of an ultra-secret MI6 team assigned to crack the Nazi code, he faces bitter opposition from his new colleagues, a collection of some of Britain’s finest minds.
But we root for Turing, softened by his stuttering, as well as his tortured boarding school past (a group of bullies nail him under the floorboards of a classroom), which director Morten Tyldum portrays as the root of his anti-social tendencies.
Cumberbatch’s performance is in turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, revealing the actor’s own proclivity toward brilliance. He’s complemented by Keira Knightley, who plays Joan Clarke, a fellow code breaker who teaches him how to play nice.
It’s not too much to reveal what happens to our hero – it is, after all, history. Turing’s national service was praised by Winston Churchill. His work paved the way for people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. But he was gay. And when the Brits found out they chemically castrated him. He killed himself soon after.
Knowing how the story ends doesn’t change the impact of the film. It’s dramatically paced, leveraging scenes of war to highlight the importance of the code breakers’ mission. It’s also slow to reveal Turing’s homosexuality, so as British authorities piece together the clues we can’t help but feel anxious.
The film’s biggest flaw may be that it is too polished – that things coincide just so. Of course a difficult wartime decision Turing makes involves someone close to him. It makes you question how closely the film – based on the book The Enigma – reflects actual events.
But eye rolls and all, the movie is wonderfully put together. Like the man whose life it’s based on, The Imitation Game deserves to be recognized.