Opening in just four New York and Los Angeles theaters over the Thanksgiving weekend to extremely strong box office, “The Imitation Game” is clearly making its mark as a Best Picture contender.
Set mainly during World War II, but going back in time to the 1930s and forward into the 1950s, the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the genius mathematician Alan Turing working to break a secret Nazi communications code called Enigma for Great Britain’s intelligence service.
His methodology initially alienates superiors and coworkers but he gets the backing of Winston Churchill and the affection of a rare female math prodigy portrayed by Keira Knightley in one of the most affecting roles she’s ever played.
Directed by Morten Tyldum with a screenplay by Graham Moore, “The Imitation Game” is a riveting biopic that deserves all the attention it will accumulate.
But the Turning story is so much more than a war thriller. It brings to life his contributions to computer science and the sad ending to what more he might have accomplished had he not been persecuted for homosexual acts after the war.
