As this was made not long before the
The Theory of Everything, comparison between the two biopics of twentieth-century English geniuses with difficult life stories is inevitable, and while
The Imitation Game is far more guilty of the Hollywoodisation that the genre is always prone to, it is markedly more compelling viewing. It helps, of course, that Alan Turing's life is partly shrouded in mystery owing to both his wartime code-breaking activities and his guarded private life as a gay man in an age when it was a crime: there is simply more intrigue to work with. Then there is the fact that what Turing did, i.e. effectively significantly shortening the war through his work and inventing the computer at the same time are simply easier for a non-scientific audience to relate to.
Yes, convenient events are frequently embellished or cooked up, and characters are made either more photogenic or more cartoonish to serve the drama - Turing himself is portrayed as nigh-on autistic - and that's a pity when there is so much to work with anyway, but it is compelling drama nevertheless and by no means unintelligent, with Benedict Cumberbatch delivering a formidable nuanced portrayal of the eventually criminally ostracised pioneer.
7/10
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