Instead, the film plays like a
Hammer Frankenstein movie, with
Cumberbatch excelling as the
Baron. It’s testament to his acting
abilities that, despite the similarities in their make-up (narcissistic
geniuses who lived to solve puzzles), we never think of his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes while
watching his turn as Turing.
The movie crosses back and forth
between three chapters of Turing’s life - his public school days,
his time at Bletchley Park, and
his arrest in 1951 - but never distractingly so. Indeed, it’s a wise
choice, as a chronological approach would have meant a deeply depressing final act focussed
on his tragic end, not the way a
figure like Turing should be remembered. Director Tyldum, who
showed a great knack for moving
a story along with pace in his Norwegian thriller Headhunters, continues in similar fashion, keeping
the narrative trundling along at a
whip-crack pace.
If the movie has a flaw, it’s the
way in which its narrative developments are too often conveyed
through a series of Rube Goldberg-like plot contrivances and
coincidences, and at times its intellectually superior protagonists
behave like idiots for the sake
of drama. But this is a movie in
which plot takes a backseat to its
fascinating central character, given the treatment he deserves by
an actor at the top of his game.
If the newly resurrected Hammer
studios want a new Peter Cushing, they need look no further
than Cumberbatch.
8 out of 10
Directed by: Morten Tyldum
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode,
Charles Dance, Mark Strong, Allen Leech,
Tuppence Middleton, Rory Kinnear
New Jersey Stage
November 2014
pg 44