Reviews like this one are difficult for me to do. Here's why-- I don't exactly know that much about science. I know science is a general term that can be applied to many regular things I do in my life, but we're talking about it in the sense of Alan Turing. I don't know much and therefore can't explain or analyze much about it or the film. The same can be said for The Theory of Everything, however it's easier to write a review about it if I didn't think the movie was great. I can just list the reasons why it failed. This time another brilliant Brit scientist (actually I'm pretty sure Turing preferred to be known as a mathematician) is given a biopic about the importance of his life in relation to, you know, the world. And it's great. (Which sucks because I can't nitpick it.)
Alan Turing was a gay scientist/mathematician living through the days of World War II in England. He is recruited, along with a few other local university geniuses to crack the enigma code-- a daily code used by the Germans to detail their attacks to each other that is reset every day and is said to be uncrackable. Turing, a social pariah, doesn't go the math route of pen and paper and brain to try and crack the impossible code, but instead decides to design a machine to do the thinking for him. Of the one hundred and fifty million million million possibilities and the code changing every night at midnight, these men stand zero chance of cracking it without Turing's machine.
And that's essentially it. It sounds a little dry and a little stale and a little boring, but somehow it isn't. It's like how Moneyball made a seriously intriguing movie about baseball stats. It's not so much about waiting for Turing to break the code, but how he does it and the conflicts that stand in his way-- more notably about how homosexuality was illegal and he was a flagrant gay, but had to hide it. How his homosexuality couldn't be overlooked even though his machine essentially won the war. Benedict Cumberbatch turns in yet another stellar performance as the strange Turing. He's suddenly become one of the most reliable actors in Hollywood. You know exactly what you're getting if you're watching one of his movies-- a mesmerizing performance.
Kiera Knightley is also in the film as a mathematician whose brain is similar to that of Turing, but unlike Alan, has a fully functioning personality. The two love one another, though obviously not in the traditional sense, but have a wonderful chemistry. What's great about this movie is it doesn't fall under the pattern of standard biopic. There's no real structure to the plot that has become very familiar in the biopic genre as of late. They allow us to see all of the good and bad that happens in Turing's life without seeming cliche. It's an honest (I assume) depiction of a mathematical genius portrayed by an acting genius. I wish I could be a little bit more articulate about why it is so good, but it's just one of those films where you don't really even need that much of a description. It looks like it could be good, a few people tell you it is good, you assume it is. Well... it is.
B+
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