The box office hit “The Imitation Game” just won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. But it deserved more. Directed by Morty Tyldum and screenplay written by Graham Moore, The Imitation Game is a historical thriller that blows all other recent historical films out of the park. Instead of putting you to sleep, the movie keeps you on edge, anticipating what will happen next.

The film  is based off of the biography of Alan Turing, the man who pioneered  theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, written by Andrew Hodges.  The time is 1951, when Turing is arrested for “showing public indecency with his homosexuality.” While getting interviewed by a suspicious police officer, Turing tells him a story of how he saved millions of people during World War II. During World War II, Turing is recruited into a top secret code-cracking cryptography unit of England’s Military Intelligence Section 6 ( or MI6 as referred to in the movie). Tasked to crack the Enigma, the Germans secret code for relaying military messages, he and a team of other smart puzzle experts team up to possibly break the code and intercept these messages to win the war.

The standout quality of the film’s characters is that they are fresh new personalities. England’s own Benedict Cumberbatch perfectly suits the role the main role of the Alan Turing(He was probably cast on the spot). Turing is abnormal and quirky, being sharply technical with anyone he speaks with. Keira Knightley takes the role of the heroine Joan Clarke. However Joan Clarke is not the movie’s fill-in role of a female love interest. She is the powerful woman who defies the discrimination of women in wartime England.

The first thing you will notice when when the movie starts is the realistic setting of 1950’s England. Imported Oldsmobiles roam the streets, police wear antiquated fleece hats, and British accents flood everything within earshot. The gray overtones of wartime England are contrasted with the brilliantly executed scenes.

The soundtrack was developed by Alexandre Desplat. It weighs in at the most critical times, in tune to accompany those intense moments of anticipation when you’re at the edge of your seat and grabbing your friend in fear of what might happen next.

Don’t get me wrong, the film is great , but it does have its shortcomings. It may be a historical film, but it does not go in depth into certain elements of the plot The shallowness of it is equivalent to biting into a tasty sandwich and having to find out there was only one slice of meat , leaving your stomach still rumbling for more after.

The side characters are a nice addition to the cast but are hindered by the brevity of their character development. One minute, one goes from absolutely despising Turing to a change of heart that magically makes them best friends.

Sure there are flaws, but they don’t leave a bad taste in your mouth. “The Imitation Game” proves that not all historical films are a drag to watch. Catch it on Blu-Ray on March 31st.