The Intimidation Game
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley
Directed by Morten Tyldum
Enlisted by British intelligence in 1939, mathematician/cryptanalyst Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is charged with a clear objective: Crack the Nazi’s Enigma code and turn the tide of World War II. Regrettably, the film that hinges on this seemingly insurmountable challenge isn’t nearly as clear in its aims, resulting in a narrative muddle that aspires to tragedy but barely qualifies as serviceable entertainment.
On the heels of his 2011 Norwegian caper drama, Headhunters, director Morten Tyldum seems inclined to play this as another fleet thriller, with Turing and his rag-tag code breakers racing against the clock. However, Graham Moore’s screenplay also has some finger-wagging to do, condemning the homophobia that proliferated in British society and drove the closeted Turing to find an exceedingly fetching beard in the form of colleague Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley). Struggling mightily to balance these disparate ambitions, Tyldum is further encumbered by an ungainly structure that jarringly shifts between three distinct time periods. Given these hindrances, it’s unsurprising that he’s rarely able to find his footing, much less hit his stride.
As Turing (or this interpretation of him), Cumberbatch is asked to do little more than keep his Sherlock persona warm until the fourth season starts shooting. Still, there’s considerable fun in early scenes that see this condescending prick fail to grasp the concept of humour (likely on the account of undiagnosed autism) while making grand professions about being “agnostic about violence.”
Alas, there’s little else to this rudimentary sketch of the enigmatic Turing, as his desires are so repressed that they barely register. Despite the fact we’re implored repeatedly to “pay attention,” there’s nothing sufficiently revelatory that follows.
