THE IMITATION GAME

Having just seen The Imitation Game, I can semi-understand why some movie-goers choose to see it again. It’s an engaging film. It has all the right elements—humor, intrigue, intelligence, spying, triumph against the Germans, and even a bit of romance.

But what it doesn’t have is truth. I hate when supposedly historic films do that—make-up what a story “based on” the true one. And from the research I did after the screening, the real life of World War II British codebreaker Alan Turing was interesting enough without having to fudge any of it!

That being said, Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as the closeted genius, even if he’s playing more of a fictional character than a real-life one. (I still don’t get his heartthrob status, though. He’s very strange-looking, with that giant, top-heavy head.) And young Alex Lawther, as the young Alan Turing, could not have been better. The other actors, directing, set design, etc., are all top-rate, as well.

But it’s fiction disguised as truth, and I just can’t get past that.

[Note: To find-out details of some of the very many inaccuracies in this film, I highly suggest reading these wonderful articles that break it all down: www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/dec/19/poor-imitation-alan-turing and www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/imitation-game.]