Enigma

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.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A riveting and surprisingly romantic ride.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

It is such a grand, romantic entertainment that it sweeps the viewer along in its swiftly escalating suspense.

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.

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.

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.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Period re-creations so rich you can taste them, and the fine cast.

Variety Joe Leydon

Intelligent, involving and intricately plotted thriller.

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.

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.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

The combined talents of Apted, Stoppard and the stellar cast make Enigma a puzzle worth solving.

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.

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.

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.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

First-class in all departments except clarity.

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.

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.

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.

Boston Globe Renee Graham

Snoozy, plodding film that never captures the inherent suspense of its subject.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Enigma, named for the Nazi secret-coding machine, has everything going for it except a pulse.

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.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Achieves a dullness that defies its pedigree and its story's potential.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.''

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.

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.

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]