Stubs - Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer (2023) starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Screenplay by Christopher Nolan. Based on the book: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Produced by Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan. Run time: 180 minutes US/UK Color Biography, Thriller

In mankind, there have been moments when things seemed to change. Most of us would say 9/11 was such a day. Life in the US has not been the same since. Another such moment was the birth of the atomic bomb in 1945 and its creator, J. Robert Oppenheimer, is the subject of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the bottom half of Barbenheimer, a duo of films that hit US cinemas on July 21, 2023.

Depending on your point of view, J. Robert Oppenheimer is either a hero or a villain for leading the effort to create the atomic bomb. I tend to lean towards the former of the two. Oppenheimer is someone who has been both praised and maligned and has a story worth telling. Christopher Nolan certainly gives himself the time to do it.

One of the stumbling blocks for people to see a movie like this is maybe its run time, three hours, but there really isn’t any filler and the film has a very good pacing throughout. In typical Nolan fashion, the story is not told in a linear fashion, using two separate hearings, one about Oppenheimer’s (Cillian Murphy) security clearance and the cabinet hearings for Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.); Oppenheimer’s story is told through a series of flashbacks, including the use of black and white.

Another Nolan touch is that sometimes the soundtrack is louder than the dialogue. I know this is done for effect, but you must wonder if Nolan isn’t confident in his own screenplay and tries to cover it up. There are also sequences when we see what Oppenheimer is thinking even while other events are playing out in front of him. This is done very effectively.

 

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer and the real Oppenheimer.

The acting is strong throughout. Cillian Murphy, who I’ve often thought plays sort of creepy characters, gives a strong performance as Oppenheimer, someone he also fairly closely resembles. You get a real sense that Oppenheimer is a complex man and there is a lot always going on inside his mind. Oppenheimer was a free thinker, flirted with communism and a brilliant physicist, who theorized about black holes. In addition, he also spoke and read multiple languages. On top of that, he both has a moral core but is not above having affairs. This is not a biography that glosses over the subject’s foibles.

I’m not used to seeing Robert Downey Jr. playing bad guys, and Lewis Strauss comes off as a small and vengeful man, but he shows real range here, something that may have not been as much on display in his Avenger days.

Robert and "Kitty" Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt) have a complex relationship.

Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer is played by Emily Blunt. Hers is not a flattering portrayal. Kitty, like her husband, had her flaws. Still, she seemed to want the best for her husband and stood by him when it really counted. Blunt gives a very strong performance.

Gen. Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) and Oppenheimer are a
bit of an odd couple, but manage to work together.

Matt Damon plays Gen. Leslie Groves, the man who put Oppenheimer in charge of the Manhattan project despite the man’s background. His performance is less nuanced than the others but he still does well with the role.

Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) was an important person to Oppenheimer.

There are several other strong supporting roles, including Florence Pugh’s turn as Jean Tatlock, a communist who had a romantic affair with Oppenheimer. She is an actress that you hear a lot about and it’s good to see she is worthy of the praise. I was also happy to see Alden Ehrenreich give a solid performance as a Senate aid whose opinion of Strauss changes during the course of the film. The last time I had seen Ehrenreich was his ill-fated role in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Rami Malek has a small but pivotal role as David L. Hill.

One of the reasons we waited to see the film was trying to find a 70mm IMAX screen, which are apparently rare. The Chinese Theater in Hollywood was the only one in Los Angeles and we booked a showing we could wrap the day around. I’m not a regular visitor to this theater, but this is the second time they have not delivered the goods. This time the 70mm projector apparently wasn’t working so my quest to see the film in its pure form was denied. The last time I went, in pre-IMAX days, the 3D projector wasn’t working. [On a separate note: The TCL seems to be a shell of its former glamorous self. It’s little things, like not having a working projector but also only having pre-bagged popcorn that makes what should be an epic viewing experience a bit of a disappointment. It’s not a movie-going experience I’m looking forward to having again and I will not count on this theater again to deliver when the chips are all in. They did give us free tickets for another showing, but even free I’m not sure I want to go back any time soon.]

The film, however, still stands up even when shown in 35mm. It is obviously well-made and tells a story that is not only based on true events but also intriguing. The people in the Manhattan Project were pushing the envelope and making the theoretical real. You may not like what they made, but its importance can not be denied.

I’ll be honest one of the reasons I wanted to see the film was the atomic blast from the test and the film does a really good job with that moment.

While I would not turn around and see it again, it is three hours long after all, I would highly recommend the film. Of the Barbenheimer films, this is certainly the stronger of the two and the one I would watch again, even if not in a theater. This is one film that lives up to the hype. It might not be for everyone, but it is by far the best film that I have seen this year.