Benedict Cumberbatch has made a career out of playing quirky, troubled geniuses. Whether it’s the titular character of BBC’s Sherlock, or WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2013’s The Fifth Estate, Cumberbatch certainly seems to have a type. His latest plagued savant, Alan Turing, is no different. Cumberbatch’s performance in The Imitation Game carries the film.
The Imitation Game, as a whole, is competently written and directed. Writer Graham Moore and director Morten Tyldum aren’t exactly household names. Should the film receive Oscar buzz, this work could be their first real hit. Moore’s screenplay follows the story of Turing, the British mathematician and cryptanalyst who, during World War II, led a team of code-breakers at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. This team was charged with the time-sensitive task of cracking crucial German ciphers during the darkest days of the war.
Moore injects a surprising amount of levity into what is a very dour story. The humor hits on the same beat repeatedly (Turing’s social awkwardness), but Cumberbatch’s endearing naïvete and innocence help the jokes work. Tyldum isn’t afraid to let the film become emotional and employs a very minimalistic approach to his directing, giving the actors freedom to naturally express emotion throughout their performances.
Cumberbatch takes the spotlight, but his companions are on top of their games as well. Keira Knightley’s Joan anchors the film, and her character simultaneously invokes both sympathy and animosity in the audience. Two British veterans, the always reliable Mark Strong and the fresh-out-of-Westeros Charles Dance, are well-cast as the military officials with whom Turing often battles.
Turing’s supporting cast—Knightley, Strong, and Dance—aren’t given much development, with the exception of the emotional Matthew Goode as the womanizing Hugh Alexander. Even so, they successfully build the world for Cumberbatch to inhabit.
Cumberbatch is, indeed, in a world of his own with this tour-de-force performance. His lines are delivered with the inherent awkwardness expected of the character, but it’s his non-verbal performance that is most impressive. Turing is a deeply conflicted and tragic figure, which Cumberbatch shows with his subtle facial expressions and empty stares. It’s harrowing to watch as the character devolves throughout the course of the movie, and you can’t help but feel sorry for him.
The most interesting part of the movie is, surprisingly enough, not how the mathematicians break the Enigma, but rather what happens afterward. Turing and company are faced with difficult moral decisions as to which German attacks to allow and which to prevent. After an occasionally somnolent first hour, the film comes alive in these moral quandaries. This period is when the group breaks apart and the characters’ true colors are revealed. It’s also the time when Turing’s life begins to fall apart. The conclusion is devoid of humor, and instead focuses on the emotional turmoil of each character, which makes for a gut-wrenching end.
An attention worthy film focusing on the tragic tale of arguably the most important man in all of World War II, The Imitation Game is more than mere impersonation––it is acting at its finest.
