“ Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one imagines.” Just when you thought that every major story that could be told about World War II had been told, another one finds its way to us. This story hadn’t been told because nothing was known about the great thing a group of men did to help shorten the war and save millions of lives. Alan Turing and the part he and a group of mathematicians played in breaking the greatest code of all time shaped history.
Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is not very social, but when it comes to puzzles very few can match his wits. The biggest advantage the Germans had during World War II was a device called the Enigma, this device made the translations of the German messages impossible to decipher. The British Government had to break the Germans Code, so they hired men like Turing, who was also joined by Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode) and other code breakers. The group is led by Commander Denniston (Charles Dance) but is really controlled by Stewart Menzies (Mark Strong) who is a member of MI6. With things not going well, Turing starts to come up with another way that might break the code, it is a machine instead of trying to crack the codes with the human brain. When Turing is given control of the team he removes two members and replaces them with better code breakes, including a woman named Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley). Together they break the unbreakable code and help turn the tide in the war.
It seems almost impossible that we might one day run out of stories from War World II. For something that happened over seventy years ago, there are still so many stories to tell. This one is very fascinating, because you get to see the lengths that were taken to assure that no one knew that the Enigma was ever compromised. The screenplay was written by Grahman Moore, from a book titled “Alan Turing: The Enigma” written by Andrew Hodges. While the story is strong enough, Cumberbatch shines as Turing, as he plays a man who did what was thought impossible, but never felt like he fit in. The reason why, was because he was gay, something at the time was not accepted, and led to his death in 1954. This is a great film and one of the better performances you will see this year, but it is not without its flaws. The fact that he is gay feels thrown in, even though there are plenty of hits throughout the film. It doesn’t detract too much, it just feels like they could have done a better job with that part of the story. That flaw though should not keep you from seeing this amazing movie about a group of heroes who were never acknowledged for what they did, and most importantly for the man who led them.
Brian Taylor
“ Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one imagines.” Just when you thought that every major story that could be told about World War II had been told, another one finds its way to us. This story hadn’t been told because nothing was known about the great thing a group of men did to help shorten the war and same millions of lives. This story is the story of Alan Turing and the part he and a group of mathematicians played in breaking the greatest code of all time.
Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is not very social, but when it comes to puzzles very few can match his wits. The biggest advantage the Germans had during World War II was a device called the Enigma, this device made the translations of the German messages impossible. The British Government had to break the Germans Code, so they hired men like Turing, who was also joined by Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode) and other code breakers. The group of code breakers is led by Commander Denniston (Charles Dance) but is really controlled by Stewart Menzies (Mark Strong) who is a member of MI6. With things not going well, Turing starts to come up with another way that might break the code, it is a machine instead of trying to crack the codes with the human brain. When Turing is given control of the team he removes two members and replaces them with better code breakes, including a woman named Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley). Together they break the unbreakable code and help turn the tide in the war.
It seems almost impossible that we might one day run out of stories from War World II. For something that happened over seventy years ago, there are still so many stories to tell. This story is fascinating, because you get to see the lengths that were taken to assure that no one knew that the Enigma was ever compromised. The screenplay was written by Grahman Moore, from a book titled “Alan Turing: The Enigma” written by Andrew Hodges. While the story is strong enough, Cumberbatch shines as Turing, as he plays a man who did what was thought impossible, but never felt like he fit in. The reason why was because he was gay, something at the time that was not accepted, and led to his death in 1954. With a great story and one of the better performances you will see this year, but the film is still not without its flaws. The fact that he is gay feels thrown in, even though there are plenty of hits throughout the film. It doesn’t detract to much from the film, it just feels like they could have done a better job with that part of the story. That flaw though should not keep you from seeing this amazing story about a group of heroes who were never acknowledged for what they did, and the man who led them.
Brian Taylor
