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Enigma
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Tom Stoppard
Robert Harris (novel)
Directed by: Michael Apted
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 19, 2002
DVD: September 24, 2002
Running Time: 117 minutes, Color
Origin: Germany / UK / USA
Summary
RATING: R for a sex scene and language
Starring Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam, Saffron Burrows, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Tom Hollander, Corin Redgrave, and Matthew MacFadyen
A romantic thriller steeped in the tense atmosphere of wartime Britain, this suspenseful drama centers on the mysteries of WWII cryptography while telling a tale of love, patriotism, obsession and betrayal. (Manhattan Pictures)
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Along the way it provides the grand, intelligent entertainment of a superior cast playing smart people amid a compelling plot. It may not be perfect, but it's decidedly a cut above.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
It is such a grand, romantic entertainment that it sweeps the viewer along in its swiftly escalating suspense.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
With a cast of actors playing some of England's smartest people and with a crackling script by Stoppard -- no slouch in the brains department -- it pays to stay awake.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
Uses the compelling true story of the triumph of the Enigma code-breakers as background for an invented but believable story of love, betrayal and heroism.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Rich Cline
It's brainy and brilliant, but despite amorous overtones and a few good action set pieces, it just doesn't generate the thrills or romance that would have made it a true classic.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Period re-creations so rich you can taste them, and the fine cast.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
Enigma is not for everyone, but the thoughtful (and the historically minded) will find it an absorbing and extremely well-textured experience.
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
It's done with such a wonderfully dry style and wit that you don't mind having to stop to catch up now and again.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
A smart, old-fashioned spy thriller in which the weapon of choice is brainpower.
ReelViews James Berardinelli
With its combination of intrigue, romance, and adventure set against a World War II backdrop, the movie has an undeniable appeal. Flaws aside, Enigma is engaging and ambitious.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter
The combined talents of Apted, Stoppard and the stellar cast make Enigma a puzzle worth solving.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
The film manages to crack all its codes, and even when it sags a bit, it's never lacking grace and some wit. Not enigmatically at all, it pleases and teases us -- in high style.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Jonathan Curiel
Think of Enigma as a cerebral thriller about the horror of war and the hope that people had in spite of it.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What I like about the movie is its combination of suspense and intelligence. If it does not quite explain exactly how decryption works (how could it?), it at least gives us a good idea of how decrypters work, and we understand how crucial Bletchley was -- so crucial its existence was kept a secret for 30 years.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Doesn't coddle the audience. But neither does it play fair. The narrative takes several fast turns and stops short with the sudden introduction of new material; the exposition is hurried and lazily predicated on characters' thinking aloud.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Most of the actors keep an icicle-stiff upper lip except for Winslet, who darts around like a finch with a beak full of sunflower seeds, and Burrows, who exudes a musk of refined sexiness.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Best of all, though, is Northam, whose sable hair and polished poise put one in mind of the young Cary Grant. In this no-sweat performance, he's an actor who conveys how restorative it is to think.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Renee Graham
Snoozy, plodding film that never captures the inherent suspense of its subject.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Enigma, named for the Nazi secret-coding machine, has everything going for it except a pulse.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
Director Michael Apted does a smooth, competent job, but like almost all his work, Enigma lacks excitement and a vivid personality.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Achieves a dullness that defies its pedigree and its story's potential.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Jean Oppenheimer
Certainly a terrific sense of urgency underlies the story and Tom's desperation over Claire is palpable, but that may not be enough for viewers who actually like to understand how the riddle is unraveling.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Given his way with witty banter, Stoppard's obvious, even leaden, dialogue is especially disappointing; director Michael Apted's handling of the story's frequent flashbacks is equally infelicitous.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
The idea of cracking a secret message from the enemy during war is thrilling; making the process interesting to watch is more problematic.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Paul Malcolm
It's all part of a larger calculus that the filmmakers hope will translate into a thinking person's thriller. If only they themselves knew how to figure it.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
All these good elements have resulted in a movie that is not so much awful as mediocre, disconnected and ultimately incomprehensible.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A turgid muddle of romance, espionage, and geek valor, despite intimations that it might have turned into ''A Reasonably Dapper-Looking Mind.''
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
Stoppard and his director, Michael Apted, must be aware of how dry their film is, because periodically they work in little thriller divertimenti -- car chases and such -- that only serve to point up how un-thrilling everything is.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
The mystery of Enigma is how a rich historical subject, combined with so much first-rate talent -- a highly capable (if not always exciting) director, a fine English cast, a script by Tom Stoppard -- could have yielded such a flat, plodding picture.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
Enigma is, to be blunt, "No way Out" meets "Revenge of the Nerds," and the meetinhg is not a happy one. [22 & 29 April 2002, p. 208]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chad gave it an 8:
I'm surprised at some of the negative reviews here. I just rented this movie and found it very enjoyable. It's a bit old fashioned in its pacing but I found that refreshing.
John E. gave it a 5:
Solid, A bit dull.
Chad S. gave it a 6:
"Enigma" is an agonizing near-miss(for me). If you find the story hard to follow, it'll drive you crazy because everything else about it is perfect. The movie is smarter than me, perhaps. But what I do understand is that Kate Winslet gives an Oscar-caliber performance. Screenwriter Tom Stoppard (Arcadia, a play) is a brilliant writer. I don't dare accuse him of incoherence.
