Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
[Cumberbatch's] whose portrayal of the British mathematician and WWII code-smasher is a feat of nuanced intelligence, a portrait of anguish with hints of arid humor. And, yes, arrogance.
– Lisa Kennedy,
Denver Post,
4 Jan 2015
fresh:
It's a film about drive, about imagination, and how brilliance thrives outside the mainstream. These are common enough themes given uncommon purchase in a film about a man who likely saved millions of lives by never fitting in.
– Tom Long,
Detroit News,
4 Jan 2015
rotten:
This film about one of the past century's smartest humans at times treats its own audience like a classroom of remedial learners.
– Dana Stevens,
Slate,
4 Jan 2015
rotten:
We go into a movie knowing that the subject was as genius or a hero, a martyr or titan. We should leave with a more nuanced understanding of who he was, his complexities and flaws.
– Elaine Teng,
The New Republic,
4 Jan 2015
fresh:
The "action" here is Turing tinkering with his machine. Or simply thinking -- which, as Cumberbatch portrays it, is adventure of the highest order.