“The Imitation Game” features strong performances from the two leads: Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, a genius mathematician, and Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke, another genius who finishes a difficult crossword puzzle in less than six minutes and wins a place on Turing’s code team. It took Turing eight minutes to do the same puzzle. His team is created to crack Enigma, the German code that is used to transmit their messages during World War ll.
The story is intelligently written and witty. During banter at the beginning of the movie between Commander Denniston (Charles Dance) and Turing, we get some humorous exchanges. Denniston: “Your background?” Turing: “I’m a mathematician.” Denniston: “How could I have guessed?” Turing: “You didn’t. You just read it in the report.”
The plot deals with historically accurate incidents and chronicles the aloofness of Turing and yet his brilliant attempts to create a machine that would crack the German transmission codes. Knightley is also powerful in her role as Joan Clarke, the woman who helps him in this quest and is engaged to him for a time. The lives that were saved due to his creative genius and—without plot-spoiling too much—the fact that the war was shortened by at least two years, are impressive. The film states that his machine was the forerunner of today’s computers. Regrettably, the movie contains strong language and we are unable to award it our Dove “Family-Approved” Seal.