It's Oscar season and that means the Oscar bait is out. World War 2 films are always Oscar bait and so are films with a gay character who needs to keep it a secret. The Imitation Game is both of those crashing together to create a marvelous film.
Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is the man that broke the Nazi code during the Second World War. Because of him, the war was shorten by at least two years, and the machine he made to break that code is basically the first computer. What he created during the war is still relevant to today, but he was not honored in any way, sharp, or form for everything that he did.
The Imitation Game has a very fractured story line. Shifting between near the end of his life with an investigation that made the discovery that he is a homosexual, which lead to his suicide due to homosexuality being a crime at the time and his forced chemical castration; to his childhood that becomes a heartbreaking tale about him discovering cryptography and his first love; to his time during the war, breaking the Enigma machine the Nazis used to share encrypted messages to each other.
The main chunk of this film is during the war, and it feels like "Revenge of the Nerds" meets "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", and that is a very good thing. Everyday that they do not solve the code, more people die at the hands of the Nazis. Cumberbatch plays Alan as a very toned down version of his Sherlock character. Both are intellectual assholes, but this version is much more vulnerable. Its the main reason why Joan Clark (Keira Knightly) is a perfect foil to him. Both are as smart as each other, but no one likes Alan and everyone likes Joan. Together they help Alan achieve his greatness and break the code, and people's hearts. This film is dreadfully sad in the best way. There is a reason why these two actors are getting much Oscar Buzz. I give The Imitation Game 4 dead Nazis out of 5.
