.Let's play a game... The Imitation Game #moviereview

Another Golden Globe nominee, The Imitation Game is based on true events and the life of Alan Turing a mathematician who sets out to crack the invincible German Enigma Code. I give the movie a C+.

Benedict Cumberbatch gives an award winning performance as Alan who tells his story in a series of narratives and flashbacks. Bullied as a child, Alan had one close friendship that begins his life as a code breaker. His machine was the foundation for computers. It was sad what happened to him because we lost the potential for so many more brilliant creations with his death. 

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There were some pieces of the movie that bothered me, or more like frustrated me. The constant changes in time frames was discombobulating at times. It’s not until almost the end that we learn Alan is telling his story to the police detective. The movie audience is seeing it in his memories.

The previews also don’t share or hint at Alan’s secret. He was homosexual at a time in Britain’s history where homosexuals were persecuted and when he was caught, the hormone treatment destroyed his brain. I don’t understand why the director didn’t bring this out during the previews. It was a huge part of who he was and it appeared that the director covered it up.

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As a romance author, I love movies with happy endings. Even Die Hard has a happy ending…and the bad guys get their comeuppance. The Imitation Game doesn’t have a happy ending. NO ONE ends up happy. One of the Enigma team lost his brother because the team couldn’t alert the German’s that they broke the code. In fact, their work was covered up for 50 years and they couldn’t talk about it. The British Secret Service (MI 6) treated them horribly as the government played God with lives during the war, feeding Intel to the Russians and choosing which threats to stop.

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Even with the great performances, I couldn’t fall for this movie. If you are looking forward to a movie that will lift your spirits or give you a happy ending…see Unbroken or even Fury!