Here is another film that I saw after I made my top 10 list of 2014. I do not think it would have made the list, but I definitely would have included it as an honorable mention. It is simply a well acted, well crafter film, but it unfortunately brings very little to the table.
Are you paying attention?
As always, I will start off with the positive. I love Benedict Cumberbatch, and I do not care if he is in many films. I know not everyone likes him, and some people even call him “overrated”. I do not think of him in that way. He is an actor who have a commanding presence, an empowering voice, but is a genuinely nice guy. I have never seen him give a bad performance, and very much look forward to what else he has in store for the future. I think his performance in this film was really good, but nothing breathtaking. The character of Alan Turing in this film is like a cross of Sherlock and Sheldon Cooper from The Big Band Theory. I do not know much about the real Alan Turing, but I do believe that the film purposely made him this way for more comedic moments. Cumberbatch nails these moments, along with all the emotional turmoil that follows. Specifically, the last 10 minutes or so really made me tear up. Part of that is because of what actually happened to Alan Turing, and the other part is due to Cumberbatch’s powerful performance. Many people seem to think Keira Knightley gave a great performance, but I think it was simply good. She is a good actress, but she often plays a very similar role. Aside from the acting, the story is very informative and interesting. There is never a dull moments, and the writing is very sharp. It is what people have come to expect from a “biopic”, and that is where I begin to have some problems with the film.
We Are Going to Break an Unbreakable Nazi Code
I felt like this film was very familiar, and relatively safe. If you have seen a film of the likes of A Beautiful Mind or Atonement then this film follows a similar structure. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but I want to see cinema advance and evolve. How we currently make biopics differs from how they were made 50 years ago, and I think it is time for directors to be more creative with how they approach these kinds of films. They could have some more style to it, or perhaps some more creativity in how they tell the story. Granted, this film jumps around in time, but it is not a technique that is uncommon to a biographical film. Another very minor complaint is the use of CGI in this film. I thought it was fairly poor, and probably could have either been done a different way, or looked more convincing.
Closing Remarks
Overall, I did enjoy this film. I laughed, I cried, and I learned much about Alan Turing that I never knew before. It is very much “by the numbers” but that is not such a bad thing. Hopefully future films seek to innovate with their biopics, rather than follows this typical formula.