I
like it when a film is based upon its dialogue, but Enigma
relies on it. Most of the story is pretentious and has no real
feelings for its characters, despite great performances by the two
leading ladies. This isn’t common in most independent releases,
because their low budgets restrict them from having anything but
dialogue, so the screenwriters juice it up as much as they can, but
this movie pretends to live up to a wide releases standards. It has
great green screen-jobs and rather thoughtful action sequences, but
beyond that there is no real substance. We get a lot of fat but no
flesh or bone; watching it is like eating a Reeses’ peanut butter
cup without any chocolate coating.
The story takes place in World War II era
and features
Bletchey
Park, where the English
were trying to crack Enigma, a Nazi encryption whose code was almost
impossible to crack. Though a tremendous challenge, the team, with
the help of a machine must solve the codes puzzle quickly, enabling
them to find out how the group of German’s are planning an upcoming
attack, that will bring lead their U-Boats into a fleet of American
cargo ships. Also trying to crack the code is a man named Tom
Jericho, who is also trying to solve a bigger mystery, he must find
the woman he loves after she is reported missing. This story is
quite good, and the way in which the two elements to the plot
intersect is fabulous; but all of this is covered up by the
blandness of the characters personalities. The roles were well
acted, but the poorly written thoughts and ideas were much too easy
to act. I’m interested in reading the original novel to see if the
errors are in the adaptation of the story, or in the story itself.
Kate Winslet and Saffron Burrows were
absolutely tremendous in the film, though as I said before, their
roles weren’t very hard pieces to play. Winslet worked as the
intelligent Hester Wallace, because her look could quite easily be
turned into a nerdy personality, and she was able to act along with
the part. Burrows had a much smaller role, but nailed it. This might
sound silly, but one of the most noticeable reasons why she was so
great in the film is that she was able to keep an excellent sense of
composure in the graphic scene of sex, in which the movie earns its
“R” rating for. The two were roommates until Burrows character ended
up as a missing person, and judging by the various flashbacks and
scenes taking place in the present, I’m sure that the director
wanted to show how the two’s split made them grow further alike;
emotionally and physically. As Winslet’s character grows closer to
the mysterious Tom Jericho, she becomes more self-confident, and
even a bit sexually intimidating. Through flashbacks, we see
Burrow’s Clare Romily gain more independence after a quarrel with
Jericho. The two are absorbing
each others traits as time moves on. Despite the white-belt level of
challenge, the performances are notably solid.
Though more or less a treat to watch, most
of the time Enigma is bland, confusing, and even
tedious. The story has a great premise, but never takes off and has
a stupid and boring plot. Confusion and spur-of-the-moment type
contributors are half the plots beauty, because they make everything
feel more realistic as far as the way of thinking in the time period
goes, but they harm more than help; causing lots of plot holes and
mysteries left unfinished. A sequel would most definitely support
the movie excellently, but due to its nature, the production company
is in no position to make one. If you’re a fan of the war/mystery
genre you’ll like this one; otherwise, don’t bother.
-Danny, Bucket Reviews