Benedict Cumberbatch is the Persecuted Genius Alan Turing in ‘The Imitation Game’

TheImitationGame(PCM) In Morten Tyldum and Graham Moore’s biographical drama, The Imitation Game, Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Alan Turing, an ingenious British mathematician whose knack for cracking codes helped defeat Nazi Germany.

In The Imitation Game, Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the Allies win WWII.

Turing went on to assist with the development of computers at the University of Manchester after the war, but was prosecuted by the UK government in 1952 for homosexual acts which the country deemed illegal.

The tragic story of Alan Turing did not end well in real life; after pleading guilty to charges of gross indecency in 1952 and undergoing synthetic oestrogen as an alternative to prison, Turing died of an (accidental?) cyanide poisoning in 1954.

Almost 60 years later, Turing became the fourth person to receive a royal pardon since WWII. In August of 2014, Queen Elizabeth II officially announced Turing pardoned of his charges of gross indecency.

The Imitation Game stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement), Matthew Goode (Watchmen, Match Point), Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Sherlock Holmes), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall, Quantam of Solace), Charles Dance (Gosford Park, Alien 3), Allen Leech (Downton Abbey, Grand Piano), and Matthew Beard (An Education, One Day).

The Imitation Game has been well received by critics, sporting a fresh rating of 86%. A.A. Dowd of A.V. Club wrote that the film “streamlines a fascinating true story into functional prestige filmmaking, but it’s still plenty engaging, thanks largely to its lead” while Lou Lumenick of the New York Post simply called the film “thoroughly engrossing.”

Directed by Morten Tyldum (Headhunters, Buddy) from the script by Graham Moore based on the book by Andrew Hodges, The Imitation Game opens in select theaters November 21, 2014.

Watch the trailer below and visit the official website for more info.

The post Benedict Cumberbatch is the Persecuted Genius Alan Turing in ‘The Imitation Game’ also appeared on PCM Reviews.