The last three movies I've reviewed have received the same rating: three-and-a-half stars. This probably isn't a coincidence. Movies can be quite good and if just short of awesome, some re-evaluation could have been in order. Remember, people are paid big bucks to do this, and no one is perfect, though a few efforts, Psycho comes to mind, are just about there. It is so easy to pick apart a film and so hard to make one, yet you're not sure the filmmakers are sure what kind of story they have on their hands when the final cut begins. The Immitation Game, so strong for one hour and forty-five minutes, is one such film, that becomes an ode to its main character the last ten minutes when it's completely unnecessary. This isn't without admiration for what Morten Tyldum and Graham Moore, the director and writer, achieved; it's just that one wonders that if they looked back over the first ninety percent of what they did, they might have rethought how to finish this unassuming, compelling story. Then again, a writing instructor once said that finishing a manuscript is about the hardest thing you'll ever do. Was for me once. Maybe that's why movies and stories matter so much: we don't even know the ending to our own lives much less our daily lives.
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