Oppenheimer

• Written, Directed, and Produced by Christopher Nolan
• July 11, 2023 (Le Grand Rex) / July 21, 2023 (US and UK)
• Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

The life of J. Robert Oppenheimer who helped develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II and his leadership of the Los Alamos Laboratory followed by his 1954 security hearing.

As with any biographical film don’t take what you see flickering on the silver screen as gospel. Use it as a point to start with. There is plenty in Oppenheimer I can see as plausible, but I can’t say it’s all fact base because I don’t know enough about J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) beyond a broad knowledge of his contributions to the efforts of WWII. Some elements in this production feel sensationalized while others are probably fictionalizations for the purposes of brevity or to get a point across.

As a director Christopher Nolan can be a bit polarizing. I don’t think it’s entirely justified at times, but I do get why. Oppenheimer is most definitely a Christopher Nolan film. A little dry and maybe even a little sterile while also being engaging in a way that doesn’t let you turn it off. That’s the best way I can put it. There are unusual visuals that give it a bit of a surreal feeling. The narrative bounces around time periods yet maintains a flow that can be followed. The time jump element fades away as the movie goes along to a more standard presentation yet by then you are hooked.

The number of recognizable faces in this is just impressive and some of them come and go in an instant. Heck, even Josh Peck makes an appearance here! That’s some random casting. My ultimate point being is that there is a lot of talent cast, but none of it holds the spotlight. Nobody gets additional time or an unnecessary amount of time just because they had an agent that got them a good deal. Maybe not all. Robert Downey Jr. as Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss gets a high level of screen time. Strauss is the ultimate villain of the story, but the movie is named Oppenheimer and not Strauss.

Downey’s performance as Strauss is Machiavellian. And even very petty. Some people are exceptionally petty and in this film Strauss is presented like that. Spending years crafting a plot to screw over Oppenheimer. In real life, Strauss had a personal axe to grind though I’m not 100% sure what that axe was. They certainly up him to villain status rather than making it simply a clash of personalities.

As much as this is about J. Robert Oppenheimer, it’s also about the Red Scare. You cannot miss it. It reaches a point where the growth of communism and the reaction to it during the time overtakes the title character of Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer rather than being a topic of the film becomes a vehicle with which to examine the issue. Then it pivots into an examination of Strauss’s vendetta against Oppenheimer. It is a little unfocused. It doesn’t 100% know what the subject is. What’s the focus? Is It Oppenheimer? Is it the Red Scare? Is it the Strauss vendetta? You can view the shifts in focus as different legs of the film. At three hours that’s a bit of very plausible head cannon. But even those shifts in focus don’t bring this down.

As a portrait of Oppenheimer, it certainly does the man no favors. He is a genius but also an extremely horrible person. Can I say a piece of crap? I can. He’s a womanizer and then often indifferent to how he treats other people. Why this works though is because Nolan crafts a human story. Oppenheimer is seriously flawed. In fact everyone has some kind of issue or problem or concern. My point being is you can understand the motivations because what they are feeling and doing is rooted in normal human reactions. These are not so damaged people that you are questioning how they are functioning. 

Emily Blunt as Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer doesn’t do too much throughout the movie. She gives Oppenheimer an emotional anchor when he is not with his mistress Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) but it isn’t until her moment before the review board that the character really shines. Kitty may be a homemaker but has a razor-sharp mind and does not suffer fools.

On the whole you get the feeling Kitty might be sticking with Oppenheimer as much out of love as it is for staying with a man who is achieving greatness and being able to bask in that glow. After all Oppenheimer is a piece of crap when it comes to how he treats women in his life. 

I was mesmerized by Oppenheimer. There is never a dull moment. At three hours this breezes by. There’s always an element on the screen to keep the viewer engaged but it’s not a speeding train. It’s a steady narrative. It’s a movie packed to the brim with story.

Visually stunning. Artfully directed. You get a feel for what each time period is but they don’t drown you in it. This was not done by people that thumbed through catalogues or magazines. There’s a distinct level of realism not only to the costuming but to the sets. And people smoke! Smoking was much more socially acceptable at that time than it is today. Here it is being done rather casually in offices or hospitals. Speaking personally I remember my father smoking in the grocery store with those days not even being as far back as when Oppenheimer takes place!  Nolan in other words keeps it grounded in the time period and doesn’t bow to modern sensitivities.

Oppenheimer is a great bit of biographical film making. Never feels long with just great performances and great dialogue and a great story. A near perfect film!