MovieChat Forums > The Imitation Game (2014) Discussion > Inaccurate is one thing, dumb is another

Inaccurate is one thing, dumb is another


Yes, we know biopics aren't supposed to be documentaries. They're not supposed to follow every fact closely as it exactly happened. Certain things are rearranged and/or embellished to make for a compelling story. But I'm sorry, even if you don't aren't an expert on the history, you can see a few giant glaring examples of creative license that simply insult the viewers intelligence. It's not enough to take liberties, you have to do it well.
For example:
Alan deciding what to do with the intelligence obtained? Which ship goes down which doesn't? Anyone with half a brain and a bit of familiarity with how governments work knows that is ridiculous. He's the code-breaker. He's not the commanding general, the head of MI6, or the Prime Minister. You break the code and you more or less move on to the next one.
Speaking of MI6, Alan telling the head of MI6 how to use the information so that the Germans don't catch on and realize that they broke ENIGMA? I'm sorry but you're talking to the most powerful spy agency on the planet. It's their goddamn job.
And by the way, the genius moment when Alan realizes how to break the code. First, it was a carbon copy of a scene in a much better film starring Russell Crowe. Second, the moment he said to look for common words I just thought to myself, "You haven't been doing it this entire time???" The amazing genius hadn't thought of this up until this moment? Again, insulting the intelligence of the viewer. (Turns out they were already doing this for a 100 years, there was no such moment of epiphany)
And finally, the first scene with Keira Knightley. I get people were much more sexist back then but a little subtlety please? One doesn't need a degree in history to know that scene never occurred. It's so obviously heavy-handed and fabricated.

So I guess my point is, it's not the inaccuracies that matter as much as the dumb way the writers went about them.

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All of these points have been discussed ad nauseum in this message board over the years; you either get worked up over them or you just enjoy a fine movie. All IMDB message boards will be history in a week or so.

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LOL sorry, haven't been here in a while
I guess they have a point in getting rid of us huh

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hb, your post was fine and many folks feel that the filmmakers unnecessarily created obviously fictional themes when they could have just stuck to the facts and the film would have still been as good or better. But some think that these fictional elements dishonor Alan Turing, and I just don't see that. I believe a serious viewer of the film would want to find out more about Turing and what he achieved, both at Bletchley and in general, and that's a good thing. That was my reaction to seeing the film (probably 6 or 7 times now).

I wish these message boards would remain, but I understand IMDB's reasoning behind closing them down.

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You did not need to apologize. It is one of the more irritating aspects of the film.

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Agree that is the worst part of the film. It would be up to the American and British commanders to decide how to use what they know.

Depicting Alan as the arbiter of military strategy was moronic.

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