Movie Review: The Imitation Game - Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015

The quality of movies we have seen lately is exceptionally good. "The Imitation Game" is right up there at the top with "Selma," "Unbroken," and "Wild." Yet, all three movies are wildly different. The one common thread is they each deal with one unique person living life the best they can.

In "The Imitation Game" the protagonist, Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), is a cipher genius, cryptanalyst, mathematician and logician who loves cryptoquizzes, crosswords and puzzles. His personality grates on those around him. He is socially inept, focused only on the task at hand, doesn't play well with others, and is quite imperious. Of course, a person does need to be overbearing if your job requires you to solve the Nazi's "Enigma" code. The "Enigma" code was unbreakable. Nazis were able to send messages at will to their troops sending them off to attack their enemies.

The story of Alan Turing is told from three points in his history: (1) in 1951, police officers visit Turing at his home and become suspicious of his activities; (2) the war years, and (3) his childhood years at a private, upper-class, British boarding school where we learn of his affection for another boy.

MI6, Great Britain's Secret Service, hired geniuses to break the code. All of their hires were to work together as a team (at London's Bletchley Park) to solve the mystery of the code.

Alan, who felt superior to the other team members, asks Commander Dennison to put him in charge. When Dennison refuses, Alan goes one higher up the chain of command to Winston Churhill. Churchill puts him in command of the group, much to the chagrin of Commander Dennison.

Like a good novel you can't put down, "The Imitation Game" is a movie you can't stop watching. Five stars.