A Reel Review: OPPENHEIMER

Director Christopher Nolan has always been fascinated by the concept of time. He has manipulated it throughout his impressive filmography; starting with the reverse-thinking MEMENTO (2000), the mind-bending INCEPTION (2010), the WWII epic DUNKIRK (2017), and even his take on the Caped Crusader in BATMAN BEGINS (2005). He has challenged and frustrated audiences, and this year throws down his heaviest gauntlet to date with OPPENHEIMER.

 

In 1942 with WWII raging, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), a brilliant theoretical physicist, is recruited by General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon), to assemble a team of scientists who will work in secret to develop America’s first atomic bomb.

 

Written and directed by Nolan and based on the book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, OPPENHEIMER covers the entirety of Oppenheimer’s life (or Oppie, as his friends and loved ones call him), with the bulk of the film tracking his work to create the bomb that will win WWII. It is no great spoiler to say that Oppie will succeed in creating the world’s first weapon of mass-destruction, and despite how grand of an achievement that is, OPPENHEIMER nearly moves that into the shadows by deep-diving into the fallout after the bomb is dropped. Oppie can taste the blood on his hands and doesn’t fall in-line with U.S. Government desires to build more bombs and an eventual arms race with Russia. His defiance leads him to conflict with Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey, Jr.), a fellow physicist who works in secret to derail Oppenheimer’s career.

 

To present this massive story, Nolan goes back to his time-bending method that he used in BATMAN BEGINS and his magnificent THE PRESTIGE (2006). OPPENHEIMER unspools in three different time periods of Oppie’s life: his building of the bomb (presented in standard color), Strauss’ confirmation hearing to become Secretary of Commerce (in glorious black-and-white), and Oppie’s torturous grilling in front of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (in a washed-out color). The competing timelines are used as a framing device to tell Oppie’s life-story. It is a challenge to keep up, but the color shifts work.

Just like Nolan used the structure of a magic trick to put together THE PRESTIGE, here he uses the concept of nuclear fission to create OPPENENHEIMER. Nuclear fission is the energy released when an atom is split, and here Nolan uses his fragmented story as elements that keep colliding. The energy that comes off that structure burns off the screen and makes OPPENHIEMER a dense, yet mind-scrambling experience.

 

Nolan paints an impressive visual canvas. As the first film shot completely in 70mm, every shot is impressive. Pacing is slow in the beginning but really picks up once the work to build the bomb starts. The film does feel like it could have used another pass in the editing room. Some scenes continue on needlessly long after the point has been made, and with so much time put into the aftermath of the first bomb detonation, there is a slight feeling of anticlimactic. Visual effects are tremendous; the film boasts zero use of CGI, and the actual miniature nuclear explosion they created is stunning. Nolan does some clever editing for that first detonation, and is presented in a totally unexpected way. Ludwig Goransson’s score is outstanding.

 

Also outstanding is the acting from the entire cast. Cillian Murphy takes hold of Oppie and makes it his own; complicated, arrogant, and aware of the important work he is doing. The show is stolen by Robert Downey Jr., who for the first time in 20 years doesn’t act like Tony Stark. Emily Blunt comes in as Oppie’s wife and is excellent as always, and Florence Pugh steals her scenes in more ways than one. Josh Hartnett is nearly unrecognizable, as is David Krumholtz. The rest of the cast is also excellent: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Matthew Modine, Tom Conti, Dane DeHaan, Alden Ehrenreich, Jason Clarke…and watch out for one hell of a cameo from the man who plays President Truman.

 

At three hours and an unconventional challenging structure, OPPENHEIMER is another Nolan film that pushes the mental (and physical) limits of his audience. The film ends on a stunner of a note; bittersweet yet somewhat devastating as we, along with Oppie, realize what has been done. As a historical piece it is essential, as it has themes and lessons that are very relevant today. OPPENHEIMER will be talked about and analyzed, and it seems like ages since we’ve had a movie that leaves such a big impact crater. And it’s about time.

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it