Enigma

This is a rare pleasure of a film - one that is prepared to treat its viewers intelligently and tell a war-time story without explosives and histrionics and without falsifying history to glorify the Americans. It is based on the best-selling novel by Robert Harris whose previous work `Fatherland' suffered so badly when translated to the screen. Here he has a decent screenplay from Tom Stoppard, assured direction from Michael Apsted, and three fine performances by British actors. Dougray Scott, in a very different role from his `Mission Impossible 2' outing, has lost weight to portray brilliant, but tortured, code-breaker Tom Jericho at Britain's war-time Bletchley Park; Kate Winslet put on weight (she was pregnant at the time) for a performance far removed from `Titantic' as the frumpy, but clever, Hester; and Jeremy Northam is excellent as the sardonic secret service agent Wigram who knows far more than he is prepared to reveal.

Surely can't be a worse British actor out there,than Dougrie Scott .Absolutely unconvincing in everything he does .The film fails because of that. Pity he was cast as Kate Winslet is always impressive .Even that isn't enough to save this .

It's nice to see the codebreaking aspect of WWII highlighted with such an interesting film. I wasn't close to tears and the various romantic chemistries didn't move me... but it's such an important topic I was totally captivated. The acting is good, although Kate Winslet is not given as much screen time. All her solo adventures are cut short. The film does a good job of explaining the mathematical mumbo-jumbo without getting bogged down in details. There are plenty of plot twists. Who should see this film: -- Anyone interested in WWII, especially if you don't like the blood in typical war films -- Computer geeks of all sorts. I found this drama quite accessible, not at all melodramatic. And read the book Cryptonomicon. -- Kate Winslet fans, although you may be disappointed. She is more of a supporting character. I'll give Enigma a fantastic 9 out of 10, sort of a bonus 8 for being on such an important topic.

A lot of British film goers complain when American filmmakers twist plots of big film to make out that they were the heroes and not the British such as the change of victors in U-571 but sometimes you have to sacrifice the truth to make a film more interesting and i wish Hollywood would have got hold of this movie if only to spark some life into it . Dont get me wrong , I'm British and i love a lot of our homemade films but we dont do this type of film very well. Enigma ambles along , only very occasionaly sparking any interest for the watcher sometimes confusing them with the plot and sometimes rousing them from their slumber. The acting is average in fact the actors are made to look like nerds , especially Kate Winslitt. If you have an interest in the Enigma machine or WWII then maybe you will like this but it didnt do anything for me. 6 out 10.

This movie was a delicious surprise from start to finish, from the weary and haunted Jericho played by Dougray Scott to the absolutely captivating performance of Jeremy Northam. The whole film has the feel of another era, it certainly has captured the dialogue of times long past. Saffron Burrows was riveting as the elusive Claire who ensnares the hearts of all men who meet her before moving on to the next one and makes it so believable in the the film. Costumes and cinematography were also excellent. And the plot, though difficult to grasp when it revolved around decyphering the German broadcasts, worked very well over all and sustains interest as it shifts and changes. At times I felt I was watching one of those British "For King and Country" efforts of the forties as it rang so true of that era. Kate Winslet is nearly unrecognisable, playing the heroine's dowdy plump best friend type and is totally believable. Recommended. 8 out of 10.

Excellent direction. Complex and intelligent script. Superb acting and cinematography. The film is haunting and has stayed with me for days. I must see it again soon to recapture details too complex at a first screening and easy missed.

Pointless movie that adds nothing to the breaking of Engima. Fictional characters and events. No mention of Turning. Distortion of history and waste of time. Dont watch.

Kate Winslet (in plain Jane mode) and Saffron Burrows (in typical 40s vixen/supermodel mood) play roommates Hester and Claire in WWII time England, one day Claire an enigmatic beauty herself mysteriously disappears and her boyfriend at the time of disappearance (played by Dougray Scott) enlists Hester (Winslet) to help in the search for her. All this occurs in the backdrop of the war and in light of the lives of the code-breakers who helped England decipher the secret codes to the enigma, Hester being one of those brainy code-breakers, hence the plain Jane mode for Winslet. All is not what it seems as one plot twist leads to another, and Hester finds herself falling in love with Claire's boyfriend. Who was the mysterious Claire Romley and where did she disappear to? Find out the secrets in Enigma. Jeremy Northam completes the solid cast and the film was produced by Mick Jagger of the rolling stones.

Kate Winslet gets a nice serious (if rather mumsy and bespectacled) role in this wartime psychological thriller about cracking the `enigma' code that was used by the Nazis. Apparently Mick Jagger owns an original four-rotor Enigma encoding machine and he loaned it to the film for historical accuracy in constructing props. The whole film reeks not only of accuracy but of fine performances, a brilliant script by Tom Stoppard, and seat-edge excitement. It's an intellectually challenging film, not only because of the need to keep up with the logic of how they tackle the breaking of the code (which is the central plot) but also in the subplot which is an engaging love story that questions face-values and reality and illusions in different types of loving.

Enjoyable, smart WWII thriller about code breaking, based on a true story, and notable for being a war film more about human intelligence then daring action. The script by Tom Stoppard is strong. It's very good film, but some irritating flaws keep it from being great. With the exception of Kate Winslet, a lot of the acting is over the top. Also, the film wimps out on the true story, and misses some fascinating complexity, since in real life the lead character was gay, at a time where that alone was enough to win everyone's distrust. Further, the whole style of the film feels old-fashioned in a way that goes back and forth between charming and forced. Last, at least the US version is a really bad DVD transfer. Lots of soft spots, etc. And yet, I'd still urge people to see it.