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October 8, 2015- by Steven E. Greer
I like Benedict Cumberbatch. I like intelligent historical pieces that teach me something. I am pretty liberal and think that the prosecution of gays was a stain on Britain.
However, despite all of that, the Weinstein’s 2014 “The Imitation Game” is a very bad movie because it lies and cynically manipulates the Academy Award process. Don’t waste two-hours of your life on this one.
The plot of the movie diverges from reality in significant ways. Professor Alan Turing was not the sole mastermind of the code breaking team that cracked the German’s Enigma code and won the war. Many others helped him. If he were as important as the movie portrays him, then MI6 would have intervened and prevented his criminal prosecution in the 1950’s for homosexuality.
However, the worst part of the movie is that it was made by the Weinstein company. Their formula for creating Oscar-winning films is so well known now, that people in the industry mock it. The Imitation Game is yet another historical piece, with British actors and themes, championing a liberal cause. The guilt and self-loathing of most members of the Academy make a film with these qualities almost impossible to not be nominated.
Cumberbatch’s performance was OK, but nothing stellar. It was not an Oscar performance. The screenplay, which did win the Oscar, was terrible, as explained above.