“The Imitation Game” is my favorite film of the year

Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), a young mathematician with an IQ almost equal to Albert Einstein’s, answers an ad to work for the British government in 1939 when England declares war on Germany. He joins a team of code breakers at the topsecret facility at Bletchley Park.

After months of futile efforts to break the Nazi “Enigma Code,” Turing entreats Winston Churchill to name him team leader so he can build what turns out to be a prototype of a modern computer. Turing’s vision is credited with shortening the war by two years, thus saving the lives of millions.

While The Imitation Game may seem to be about the triumph of technology, it is actually a deeply human story. Through flashbacks, we see Turing’s lonely life as a bullied schoolboy with limited social skills. By the time he is out of Cambridge, he realizes that he is a homosexual.

After the war, Turing is arrested for solicitation. A detective asks him if a computer can offer him a chance to explore what it means to be human and to explain man and machine. What follows is a tragedy, but no one can take away Turing’s legacy.

The Imitation Game is one of the best films of the year. It has intrigue, mathematics, human relationships, and a search for spies—all rolled into one man’s life. The direction by Morten Tyldum is brilliant, and Cumberbatch deserves an Oscar. CLICK HERE to my column at St. Anthony Messenger.