I fear I have become a huge Benedict Cumberbatch fan, having first become aware of his work watching the first season of Sherlock on PBS back in 2010. I could not not watch him. He is an absolutely brilliant actor with an immense talent. It is said that the best actors are the ones you never catch working. Cumberbatch certainly falls into this category. What he does is so appealingly organic, you would never find yourself saying, “Oh yes, I see. He’s acting.” He had a minor role in the 2013 film, August: Osage County. His scene at the bus stop is the only redeeming thing about that tour-de-crap, which in my view, was otherwise utter cinematic rubbish. Cumberbatch’s genius is in reaching out and grabbing his audience, and then compelling them to become emotionally invested in whatever particular character, large or small, he is playing at the time.
Cumberbatch is a current Best Actor Oscar nominee, deservedly so, for his portrayal of Alan Turing in the film, The Imitation Game. The advertising posters for the movie tout, “Benedict Cumberbatch is Outstanding!” I second that! This motion picture, also nominated for Best Picture, has a real Hitchcockian feel. It is high drama in the best sense of the word and keeps the viewer on the edge of his seat. The script, by Graham Moore is loosely based on the Andrew Hodges biography, “Turing: the Enigma”.
Cumberbatch is surrounded by an amazing supporting cast which includes Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode (The Good Wife), Allen Leech (Downton Abbey), Mark Strong (Zero Dark Thirty), and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones). Knightley is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. She is nothing short of stellar in her portrayal of cryptanalyst and numismatist Joan Clarke. Clarke is also portrayed in the film as the driving force behind Turing when his will occasionally flags.
The plot of Imitation Game principally revolves around the efforts of Turing and his team genius mathematicians, chess players, crossword solvers, linguists, etc. in breaking the Nazis' Enigma code during World War II. It is estimated that Turing’s efforts helped shorten the war by some two years and probably saved as many as 14 million lives. Sadly, his achievements were not taken into account when he was arrested and convicted for gross indecency years later, after admitting to having been in a gay relationship. This ultimately led to his suicide in 1954 at age 41; a very sad epitaph indeed, especially when you consider his great contribution to the war effort and the fact that he is considered by some the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence.
There are many moments of delicious, if subtle, humor in Imitation Game. My favorite is when Turing, who is the epitome of social ineptitude and humorlessness, attempts telling his colleagues a joke, which leaves them somewhat speechless.
The Imitation Game is certainly a must see, and definitely gets my two thumbs up! Anyhow, that’s the way I see it!