Oppenheimer (2023)

Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Jason Clarke, Emily Blunt, Alden Ehrenreich, Benny Safdie, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, David Krumholtz, Dylan Arnold, Jefferson Hall, James D’Arcy, Macon Blair, Kenneth Branagh, Matthew Modine, Dane DeHaan, Tom Conti, Tony Goldwyn, Rami Malek, David Dastmalchian, [R]

Christopher Nolan’s epic bio of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy), the “father of the atomic bomb”, not only painstakingly recreates the arduous process of developing the first nuclear weapon, but also shows how he dealt with doubt during his time at Los Alamos and guilt in the aftermath, and was the victim of personal and professional attacks by colleagues and higher powers, led by Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss (Downey). A long and immense undertaking, Nolan’s cerebral, far-ranging script is dense with detail, with characters and incidents coming fast and furious at the viewer on a nonlinear timeline—it’s easy to understand the gist of what’s happening at all times, but the names and specifics can be a blur. Some segments are flawed, such as the indistinct relationship Oppenheimer shared with a Communist lover (Pugh) who pauses in the middle of sex so she can make him read from Sanskrit the famous quote, “Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds”, but while the storytelling technique can’t help but be clunky at times, there’s so much to absorb, and it’s rarely less than fascinating because of Nolan’s confidence, his filmmaking prowess, his use of ominous sound, theater-shaking music, and practical special effects, and a supporting cast as dense as the writing (using so many familiar faces helped when it came to sorting everyone out). Even though the results were in the bag, he does a remarkable job of both playing up the massive historical importance and the world-threatening suspense in the minutes leading up to the first atomic bomb test, a centerpiece sequence that ranks near the top within the filmmaker’s body of work. Murphy is sublimely understated without burying his thoughts and emotions, the moral dilemma played out in distant gazes and slight changes in the shape of his mouth, and there’s not a faulty effort from anyone surrounding him, even the actors who aren’t known for being compelling screen presences. The primary source used by Nolan was Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherman’s biography, “American Prometheus”. Well-known thespians who don’t rate much more than cameos include Casey Affleck, Alex Wolff, James Remar, and (as Harry Truman) Gary Oldman.

86/100