Enigma (2001)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Stuart B

  
  Decent retelling of the real life story of the cracking of the Enigma code

• Jens S

  
  The story of the breaking of Nazi codes during World War 2 is surely an interesting topic. Sadly, this movie does not entirely live up to that promise. The look isn't exactly cinema standard, it often feels like a British TV movie with its soft-focus flashbacks. Those, while… More
  The story of the breaking of Nazi codes during World War 2 is surely an interesting topic. Sadly, this movie does not entirely live up to that promise. The look isn't exactly cinema standard, it often feels like a British TV movie with its soft-focus flashbacks. Those, while telling an aspect of the story that's important later on, cost the film some pace in the beginning. The overall good cast and the decent last 30 minutes still make for an entertaining movie, but somehow there was more potential in this. It left me a little too indifferent and will probably be forgotten pretty soon.

• Candy R

  
  Thriller about Britain's secret code breakers during World War II. Kate is great in this movie.

• Gordon A

  
  Proficient but dull thriller let down by an unengaging lead.

• Mark A

  
  All this viewer can say is that was one heck of a ride! This one has all the ingredients. A group of brilliant code breakers facing a deadline to crack Germany's new and improved Enigma code, a counter-spy that may be leaking information to the enemy, a beautiful woman missing,… More
  All this viewer can say is that was one heck of a ride! This one has all the ingredients. A group of brilliant code breakers facing a deadline to crack Germany's new and improved Enigma code, a counter-spy that may be leaking information to the enemy, a beautiful woman missing, who may have been murdered, and only two people who have the brains and the bravery to follow the leads through to their logical conclusion. Dougray Scott is brilliant as Tom Jericho, the haggard Oxford mathematician who cracked the original Enigma code and has the best chance of finding the solution to the current version, but he is less than trusted because of a previous breakdown. Kate Winslet is Hester Wallace, a "glorified file clerk" who possesses a superior intellect and a dogged determination to decipher the few clues she and Tom have managed to piece together. The common thread that brings these two together is the disappearance of Claire (Saffron Burroughs), Hester's roommate and Tom's former girlfriend. The brilliant screenplay by Tom Stoppard is brought to life and fairly crackles with tension from one scene to the next by the masterful direction by Michael Apted. The scenery is authentic, the petty office politics that nearly derailed the critical mission is enjoyably frustrating, the supporting cast is brilliant, and the narrative field becomes littered with enough red herrings and plot twists to keep even the sharpest sleuths in the audience guessing right up to the end. Then to top it all off we have the inevitable love story that develops when two closely matched intellects are thrust together in a bit of subterfuge and the perfect recipe is ready. What a joyride!

• Curt C

  
  An entertaining and engaging thriller which managed to keep me on the edge of my seat throughout. It's nice to watch a film that manages to keep a heightened sense of tension without the use of guns and explosions. Instead the tension came from the motives of the characters… More
  An entertaining and engaging thriller which managed to keep me on the edge of my seat throughout. It's nice to watch a film that manages to keep a heightened sense of tension without the use of guns and explosions. Instead the tension came from the motives of the characters themselves ("Was Claire a spy? How did the Germans know to change their codes?") Enigma is loosely based historical fiction: the events the film is based around are real, but the characters and events are completely fictional. The backdrop of the war and Bletchley Park provided effective back drops, but if you know anything of the actual history of the Enigma, this film may irritate you. For myself, I was able to put that aside and appreciate this intelligent thriller for what it is; even if the final confrontation was a bit out of place.

• Marcus W

  
  U-571 may have been historically inaccurate, but at least it was entertaining. This is as exciting as tea.

• Leo L

  
  Interesting!

• Barry L

  
  Good film showing how WE actually broke the code and not the Yanks.

Read all 9 featured audience ratings