Enigma is based on the fictional Robert Harris novel which is a part wartime thriller and part love story based on code breakers in Bletchley Park. It mixes fiction with some real characters and events. The book is gives a grim depictions of a war torn Britain which I am afraid endured for several decades after the war.

Dougray Scott is a mathematician recovering from a breakdown after a doomed love affair. He returns to Bletchley to find out his ex lover, Claire has gone missing and there is pressure to crack the Enigma code and with intelligence officers crawling about, there might also be a mole in his team.

Scott (with a variable accent) teams up with a dowdy Kate Winslet to investigate what happened to Claire and discover something more sinister.

The film was adapted by Oscar winner Tom Stoppard. He introduces some new scenes and different climax from the book. He does well in keeping the grimness of domestic life and fashions of the time but its not a successful screenplay. Director Michael Apted struggles to give flair and spark to the film as it remains dour, dull and lifeless. Despite a few extravagant scenes it does look like a glorified television film.

Scott and Winslet work well together but the film is too uneven, there are some good shots of the code breaking machines whirring around and some humorous scenes of the women working in Bletchley with the lecherous supervisor. The thriller element despite a good start fails to work and in this adaptation seems flawed.

Jeremy Northam's acting is provided by his hat and his supercilious character has a habit of speaking lines that sound out of period.

A disappointment especially as I enjoyed reading the novel.

ENIGMA is a not-bad spy thriller, based on the novel by Robert Harris. Dougray Scott stars as a thinly-veiled fictionalised version of Alan Turing, trying to crack the enigma code and doing some detective work into his girlfriend's disappearance at the same time. The film benefits from attention to period detail and a good supporting cast that includes future greats including Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Matthew Macfadyen and Jeremy Northam. I did find the running time to be a little overlong, and Kate Winslet gives a poor performance that's all mannerism and no depth; she's so obviously "acting" here that you can't take her seriously for a moment.

Thomas Jericho (Dougray Scott) is brought back to Bletchley Park to decrypt the new version of the Enigma machine specially made for U-boats. He's been away after a mental breakdown. There is a large convoy coming across the Atlantic and the Allies are newly blind. There is a suspected spy as the Nazis seems to be changing their ways. Tom is searching for his missing girlfriend Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows) along with her flatmate Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet). Meanwhile Wigram (Jeremy Northam) is searching for the mole.

Dougray Scott gives a tiresome performance especially at the beginning when his character is world weary. Kate Winslet is playing a mousy character. All the flashbacks are pretty boring. Saffron Burrows is doing supermodel level of acting. Their great love never seem so great. The movie is a bore when this should be a thrilling spy story. In the end, I don't care about Jericho. That would be workable if Jericho actually turns out to be the mole. That would be quite a nice noir touch. Also the act of code breaking is not done that well. Although doing code breaking well has never been easy.