The Imitation Game

***1/2 out of ****

Norwegian director, Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game tells us the story of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), an unsung hero of the Second World War, whose work remained a secret long after his tragic end. Turing was a mathematician, working with British Intelligence intercepting Nazi transmissions and messages encrypted with the supposedly unbreakable Enigma code. He was responsible for a code-breaker machine (the first algorithmic computer), which cracked Enigma, helped the allied forces win the war, and set in motion a world of modern digital computing.

The film may be formulaic, but not in any way that I find annoying. Every dramatic turn and character arc feels earned, regardless of how embellished it may be. This movie isn’t very inventive but it effectively uses great talent and dependable tactics to tell us a dramatized story based on history worth knowing.