The Imitation Game is one movie that I didn't want to miss. Its not just about Benedict Cumberbatch or Kiera Knightly. It was more to do with Alan Turing. Its always fun to watch or read about eccentric, reclusive & brilliant men. A Computer Science background too played a huge part in convincing me that this is something that I shouldn't miss. I watched it in PVR Cinemas and I'd say this is on par with A Beautiful Mind(a movie about another eccentric mathematician John Nash).
The entire movie seemed like a novel to me, with the life of the protagonist getting unveiled chapter by chapter although in a non-linear way. It seemed like Alan Turing was narrating to me directly from scene one. It seemed like Turing was setting the tone for the story when we hear his voice saying "Are you paying attention? Good. If you are not listening carefully, you will miss things. Important things." and then when he says "What I will need from you now is a commitment. You will listen closely, and you will not judge me until I am finished. If you cannot commit to this, then please leave the room", the message is loud and clear to the audience. So as an obedient audience, I did what he told me to, "Listened Carefully". Actually I needed to because there weren't any subtitles.
Its an exceedingly well written script that shows us again and again how we treat eccentric men. Unfortunately all these intelligent individuals are celebrated, not during their prime but years later when the world realizes their intelligence and showers them with posthumous recognition. I came to know only from the end credits that the movie was based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. I should give the book a try sometime.
One problem I faced was to shake off from my mind the other famous characters portrayed by these actors. For example, in one of the scenes where Benedict Cumberbatch is crouched on the floor collecting samples, more than Alan Turing it was Sherlock Holmes, Charles Dance was more Tywin Lannister and Mark Strong looked more like Lord Blackwood. Thank goodness, Kiera Knightly did not evoke any of her famous characters. That problem was totally mine and If you've not watched the Sherlock Homes movie, Sherlock TV series or Game of Thrones series, then the above problem is totally irrelevant. A glaring glitch was the over makeup to the actors. The makeup was very obvious in a particular scene towards the end for both Kiera Knightly and Benedict Cumberbatch. But really such details will definitely get lost if you're immersed into the movie.
I've to stand and applaud the performance of Benedict Cumberbatch as the tricky part in such scripts is that, you've to carry the entire movie on your shoulders, which he did brilliantly. It just shows what a good actor he is. All the other artists too have done their part well.
I've intentionally not talked about the plot details. I feel everyone must watch this movie without knowing any of the plot details. I'll complete this post with the quote that keeps on lingering in my mind, "Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."
I'd give a 9/10 rating and a good luck to the crew for the Oscars(It has been nominated in 8 categories).
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