It’s a testament to a filmmaker’s skills when they can get audiences on the edge of their seats over the outcome of a real historical event with a foregone conclusion. Christopher Nolan does just that as he builds up to the atom bomb test at Los Alamos in 1945, the results of which most will have seen via film from the time, and in so doing reminds us why he’s one of the best directors working right now. Of course, Oppenheimer is about more than that, and there is much here that viewers will certainly be far less familiar with that also turns out to be well-suited to Nolan’s trademark twisty screenwriting, this time with co-writers Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.
The film is primarily broken into 3 timelines and jumps around between them. The first follows J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy, perfectly cast) from the age of 22 and leading up to his appointment to and management of the Manhattan Project. The second occurs in 1954, when he is made to testify before a Personnel Security Board in regards to renewing his Q clearance (for access to Top Secret data) as a result of his past sympathetic attitudes towards alleged Communists. The last happens in 1959, as Lewis Strauss (a fantastic Robert Downey, Jr.), a member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission who had hired Oppenheimer to work at Princeton, is taking part in his Senate confirmation hearing to become Secretary of Commerce, where some of the scientists he’s had to work with are called upon to testify to his character.
All of the parts are interesting on their own and make sense as a framing device for why Oppenheimer is telling us about his life, but when the different parts begin to come together in the final hour and reveal their secrets and connections it is truly thrilling. In addition to the excellent cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema, Nolan scatters striking artistic effects shots throughout that help to convey the workings of his main character’s mind, augmented by Ludwig Göransson’s memorable score. It’s fascinating to see the motivations behind the creation of weapons capable of such incredible destruction, and also to watch as many of those so involved in making them possible, most notably including Oppenheimer himself, turn against them (to unfortunately little effect). Nolan wisely avoids depicting the events at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which would have likely felt more than a little exploitative, but their effects are felt throughout. It feels like a movie that only Christopher Nolan could have made, is easily one of his best, and one of the best, most impressive films of the year period. ★★★★★
rated r for some sexuality, nudity, and language.
★★★★★ = Excellent | ★★★★ = Very Good | ★★★ = Good | ★★ = Fair | ★ = Poor
-
-
-
-
-
Excellent review. We bought it to watch on the 29th. Will enjoy it again at an earlier time. It is 3 hours.
Thanks.
It is long, but it flies right by.