This is one of those films that seems to have so much going for it. Great actors, an intriguing story on the video jacket, and that hint of mystery that threatens to suck us in. Be warned. Enigma fails to deliver at any level. With the exception of Jeremy Northam, the acting is mediocre at best. Jeremy at least manages to appear somewhat interested in the story. Kate Winslet's performance is weak, her character weird and immensely unsympathetic. Rent this first. See if you can make it through the entire tired plot, stereotypical "bad guys," and random acts of sex, before you commit to making it your own.

Anyone interesting in buying this film on DVD, beware that the quality is absolutely atrocious. It's so bad, I found it unwatchable, so my comment is not about the film per se, but the DVD. When I first started to play the DVD I thought I must have received a defective DVD, but upon searching the internet for DVD reviews of ENIGMA I found that the transfer is atrocious. It appears to have been transferred to DVD from a PAL format VHS tape. The picture is fuzzy, it shimmers, and small detail is just awful. The first 5 minutes started to give me eye strain so I had to stop watching.

"Enigma" is an absorbing World War II drama of suspense as long as one takes it as what Graham Greene called "an entertainment" and does not press it too hard for historical accuracy. Because it has several subplots, which become clear only after repeated viewings, the movie leaves the viewer grasping at a few loose ends that are never tied up completely. With an intelligent script by playwright Tom Stoppard, "Enigma" works best when it focuses upon the Bletchley Park team of classicists, mathematicians, and other academics working on cracking the intercepts of German submarine traffic in the North Atlantic. It works less well when it veers off into car, train, and motorboat chases. Nevertheless, clever plot twists, atmospheric English locations, and a talented cast, which includes Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam, Tom Hollander, Matthew MacFadyen, and Corin Redgrave, ensure that the viewer will be thoroughly entertained.

I guess this movie is supposed to be romantic and cute. Kate Winslet was cute with the glasses? WWII code breaking is a fascinating subject and could have been interesting. Like the movie Pearl Harbor was turned into a soup opera and was awful so was this film. Of course the Polish code breaker becomes a traitor and gives the codes or code machine to the Germans because he is angry the Soviets slaughtered the Poles at Katyn. So the Polish guy helps the Germans? For one thing the due credit was not given in this film to the Polish cryptanalysis on which subsequent British codebreaking was dependent for its successes. The film was financed by Mick Jagger and Lorne Michaels of SNL. Why? Thanks Mick. The Poles laid the foundations for British success in cracking German codes and they get portrayed as traitors in silly soap opera movies like this. Yes it is fiction but unfortunately probly most of the world will learn about WWII code-breaking from this film.

Watch "Enigma" to kill some time, but don't hold on to the presentation as history. The real story of the Nazi code-breaking team and Alan Turing must be too controversial for a film. "Enigma" goes beyond taking creative license -- it rewrites history right down to the persona of the lead character. Consider it "loosely inspired" by the facts. A well done and well filmed piece of fiction nonetheless.

I hate to be picky..but the Enigma system was a stream cypher, NOT a code. A code encyphers the same item "battleship" say, in a finite number of ways. Eventually they repeat. The Enigma system would NOT repeat (in less than many years). That was it's strength. The movie publicises a little known, and scarcely appreciated part of WW2. Perhaps a major reason why we are not speaking German now. In my opinion: well written, convincingly acted, somewhat unkind to the Poles (who provided invaluable help to the Allies with their cryptographic skills - and were shabbily treated as a reward), but well worth a look. More historically accurate material is available from the Bletchley Park site for those interested in persuing cryptanalysis more deeply. Cheers..