I think The Imitation Game is a wonderful film, and here is why:

I have just finished watching the film The Imitation Game and I am very happy having seen it. The film, directed by my countryman Morten Tyldum (Norwegian), is among my top three favourite films of 2014. It's not a perfect film, far from it, but it is thoroughly enjoyable and extremely interesting. Here are the films finest points:

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  Fantastic choice of lead actor. Benedict Cumberbatch not only looks very similar to Alan Turing, but his acting is superb. Gone are Cumberbatch's quirky, arrogant Sherlock, his evil villains and other forgettable roles. Instead we are presented with a profoundly vulnerable young man whose intellect dwarfs everyone else's. A wounded man, as well, whose deep emotional and psychological wounds remain open and festering; making him a difficult man and not some sort of superhero.

  
  


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  Interesting story. The story of Alan Turing haven't previously been told other than on rather dull documentaries and in books. Nothing wrong with that, I love both mediums, but the if ever a man deserved a feature film it is Turing. Alan Turing arguably made sure the Allies won the second world war and invented the computer. He is one of the 20th centuries' pivotal characters and Britain rewarded him by arresting him and treating him like garbage because he was gay. Britain is forever shamed by this and still haven't apologised properly for its appalling treatment of homosexuals. This film highlights these points seemingly effortlessly and yet the film is far more a thriller than a political film trying to push an agenda.

  
  


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  The script. The film is 114 minutes long and you are not bored a single moment. There is little or no filler- moments and every dialogue and action serves the plot. There are no plotholes (see, it is possible to make a film devoid of inane plotholes) the science is presented realistically and not in a dumbed-down 'Murican way.

  
  


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  Young Turing (Alex Lawther). The casting of young Turing deserves a reward. This young man has a great future. It is not often that I cry watching films, but this young man's portrayal of a bullied, socially awkward homosexual boy brought several tears to my eyes.

  
  

These points being made, I feel the need to critique the film on certain points:

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  Female lead. Why in the hell Tyldum chose Keira Knightley to play Turing's dear friend Joan Clarke is beyond me. Maybe he was forced to put in a pretty face by the money-people behind this film, I don't know. What I do know is that Knightley is the single worst actress I know of. She overacts in every single scene, and her character is given far too much space in this film, which should have been more about Turing and less about this woman. Also, Knightley doesn't look anything remotely like Clarke. Clarke was a handsome enough woman, but she was not conventionally pretty. Knightley simply looks totally misplaced.

  
  


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  Length. It is a rather short film and I think it could've been longer. It is almost entirely about Turing's work on the Enigma code and I left wanting far more about his life after WWII and also more about his early years.

  
  


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  The ending. I am not going to spoil it, but the film makes some closing statements that in no way are universally accepted by Turing- followers. If Tyldum did so in order to create controversy, I don't know, but it almost seems like it. I think it tarnished the film's otherwise sterling character.