Movie Review - The Imitation Game

I had wanted to watch this movie since 2014 when it was released. But because of this thing called "life", I was unable to and I highly regret not watching it back then. Though too late, here is my take on this beauty of a film for those who care.

The premise is simple - During World War 2, The Germans had developed a machine which was used to send messages regarding their proposed attacks in a code only breakable by their own machine. The good news is, The British have this decoding machine. The bad news is, the code contains 159 million million possibilities which cold take roughly about 2 million years to decode for every single message. To make matters worse, 'The Enigma' as it is called, resets everyday at 12 AM, which means that decoders have to go through 159 million million possibilities in a matter of 24 hours to decode the message for that day, which could turn the tide of war. Enter Alan Turing who is this God-like genius Mathematician, who is an A-hole, but a likable one nonetheless, who wants to try his hand at breaking 'The Enigma'. We all know he is going to break the code, which is not a major spoiler, but how and what happens after he does, is the actual intriguing part of the story which I wont spoil.

All this may sound complicated, but trust me, the movie has a way of making the viewers understand the plot without a requirement of a Ph.D. or knowledge in Cryptograpy. Yes, a common man like me (though that is debatable) was able to understand all the mumbo-jumbo pretty well, all the while keeping you glued to the screen and that is an achievement in and of itself. It is easy for a movie like this to bore you to death, but not this one. The movie slows down a bit in the middle; just by a bit, but it gets right on track immediately. 

The performances were excellent. Everybody, from Benedict Cumberbatch to King Tywin Lannister were spot-on(no surprises there). Cumberbatch will make you cry in a few scenes if you let him. His performance is that good! The supporting cast are also no push-overs either.

Come to think of it, the film is not entirely about the code or the process of breaking it. There is another side to it which actually drives the story and leads it to the end which is actually very sad. The film is accused of not being entirely accurate, but to be honest, I don't care. We have History TV for boring documentaries. The only matter of regret with this movie in my opinion, is missing it the first time.

                                                                     

                                                                        Score - 8/10