Oppenheimer – Review
180 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, and Martin Sherwin
Directed by Christopher Nolan
**NOTE: You can read Mark’s review below, then listen as he and Ryan discuss the film in more depth. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
**This is your reminder that the writers’ and actors’ guilds are currently on strike. We recognize and support their efforts to obtain proper compensation for their creative works.**
I’ll be honest: after not enjoying Nolan’s two previous films (Tenet and Dunkirk), I had a bit (just a bit) of trepidation going into Oppenheimer, even though I generally like Nolan’s work and this story dovetails nicely with my love of history.
Turns out, I had nothing to worry about.
Oppenheimer is easily one of his best films. Shot, as his films so often are, in IMAX first, and often with other distinctive visual attributes such as his color choices, Oppenheimer is being shown in so many formats and aspect ratios that your head will spin. The version we saw last night was a 35mm actual FILM PRINT, not digital, which purists might enjoy.
We couldn’t see it in IMAX from FILM because there are no theaters left in Utah with IMAX projectors that aren’t digital-only.
It was weird, too, in that the 35mm print either had defects (scratches, etc.) or Nolan deliberately inserted them to add the feeling that the audience is watching a more contemporaneous look at Oppenheimer’s life. Regardless, the film itself is fantastic.
Told mostly through flashbacks during General Strauss’ (Robert Downey Jr.) Senate confirmation hearings as the nominee for Eisenhower’s Commerce Secretary, we see a young J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) toil for years to become a leading authority on Quantum physics (the “new physics” as he calls it early in the film).
Approached by the government after a European scientist splits the atom, Oppenheimer is put in charge of the Manhattan Project, tasked with developing the atomic bomb.
We see Oppenheimer’s pre-war interactions with members of the Communist Party of the United States (though he never joined), his rise and respect in the scientific community (including one Albert Einstein), and, after successfully completing the mission at Los Alamos, his inevitable fall from grace as political winds shift and men with loftier goals than his own find him a hindrance.
As a bit of political intrigue, Oppenheimer presents the all-too-familiar story of rewriting history to suit what one needs it to be at present, the use and discarding of individuals with callous disregard bordering on psychopathic behavior, and how one man can be the focal point for both so much honor and and equal or greater vilification.
The performances here are top-notch across the board. Murphy’s Oppenheimer is tormented, striking a balance between the idealism of scientific inquiry and the pragmatism of the world he finds himself in. Oppenheimer is great on science, but for as often as the film tells us he isn’t good at people, he does a good job moving them into positions he needs them in, even if that becomes part of his problem down the road.
I see a lot of headlines proclaiming Josh Hartnett as the breakout/rebirth star of the movie, and while I enjoyed his performance very much, I don’t know if Hollywood will necessarily take enough notice to bring those opinions to fruition without dropping the ball. Hollywood is a fickle beast, and I hope that he chooses his next project wisely and not squander the good will he’s going to be getting from this one.
Emily Blunt is spectacular (as always) as Oppenheimer’s wife, Kitty, embodying a woman who can see him for his brilliance and his ignorance, and can, with a glance, impart so much meaning.
The rest of the cast is expansive, from Kenneth Branagh to Rami Malek, Oppenheimer is a veritable “who’s who” of quality actors, all rising to the importance of the story they’re telling.
But back to the film.
A man like Oppenheimer, as well as the work he did, is sure to cause controversy now, just as it did then, and I cannot wait for all of the navel-gazing think-pieces about the morality of the war, the racism of using the bomb on Japan, etc., etc….
All the old chestnuts. You know them; you’re as tired of them as I am, I’m sure.
Nolan addresses all of these topics in an even-handed manner, not openly advocating for any one or other conclusion, instead recognizing, as Oppenheimer seemed to, the nuance of the situation and the science behind the effort.
The various political discussion encountered here covers the spectrum from Communism to Fascism, Socialism to Capitalism (and I’m sure we’ll all be seeing those analyzed in terms of modern political desires ad nauseum, dependent on the writer’s own political agendas).
Nolan has had a tendency to run over his films’ dialogue with its score, but he has really reigned that in for all but a couple spots in Oppenheimer, which aren’t nearly as bad as some of his other films, which I appreciated beyond belief.
But the score itself is fantastic, with Ludwig Goransson’s music never overwhelming the narrative, but instead doing what a great score should: enhancing the audience’s experience.
I was surprised (?) that Nolan chose to present him as a scientist in the vein of an Einstein, a Hawking, a Turing… a tortured soul who could see what others couldn’t, even if his math skills were, by his own admission (and Einstein’s) not very good. I had always considered Oppenheimer to be a good scientist who was able to lead this mammoth undertaking… which he was, but here we see that he may have been so much more than that. A true theoretical visionary, not just in science, but in the ramifications of what that science can expose moving forward.
Overall, I didn’t mind the THREE HOUR run time at all. I enjoyed every single second of it, though I might be in the minority on that one. A story as nuanced as this one, both in construction and content, needs to be as long as it needs to be.
Honestly, this story could probably have been just as effective as a 6-episode (6 hour) limited series on streaming, and I’d have watched the hell out of that, as well.
Nolan adapted his screenplay from the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin, which I will now have to pick up and read.
Oppenheimer was filmed using a combination of IMAX® 65mm and 65mm large-format film photography including, for the first time ever, sections in IMAX® black and white analogue photography, and frankly, it looks absolutely incredible and is easily the frontrunner for cinematography recognition come awards season for cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema.
Easily one of my favorite films of the year so far, Oppenheimer is an easy recommendation for Nolan fans, history buffs, or just fans of great cinematography.
But pee before the movie starts.
Oppenheimer hits theaters on Friday, July 21, and stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey, Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett, and Kenneth Branagh.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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