Oppenheimer - Review: Christopher Nolan's Tale of an American Prometheus

Leave it to Christopher Nolan, the writer/director behind hits like “The Dark Knight,” “Dunkirk,” “Interstellar,” and “Inception” to convince a major movie studio to let him make a three-hour-long, $100 million, R-rated, adult drama about Robert Oppenheimer’s life and the Trinity tests. In today’s age of blockbusters underperforming and post-pandemic box office slumps, it’s a daring move to be sure.

Written and directed by Nolan, the movie follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy (“28 Days Later,” “Peaky Blinders”), from his days at the Cambridge through his time teaching at various colleges in California until he’s approached by General Leslie Groves, played by Matt Damon (“Good Will Hunting,” “Ford v. Ferrari”), to run the Manhattan Project to construct a nuclear bomb for the United States. Intercut with this and the Manhattan Project’s progress are scenes of a hearing to remove Oppenheimer’s security clearance years later due to his political outcries against further nuclear weapons and his former Communist ties, as well as the hearing for a cabinet position for Lewis Strauss, played by Robert Downey Jr. (“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” “Iron Man”).

This film is absolutely stuffed to the brim with actors all here for mere moments and it can almost be compared to the works of Wes Anderson, like “Asteroid City”, wherein his films are populated with a who’s-who who just want to work with him. Of course, there are those who take up more time than others, such as Emily Blunt (“Edge of Tomorrow,” “A Quiet Place”) as Oppenheimer’s wife Katherine, Florence Pugh (“Little Women (2019),” “Black Widow”) as Jean Tatlock, Oppenheimer’s friend and mistress, Benny Safdie (“Licorice Pizza,” “Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.”) as Edward Teller, a fellow scientist working on the Manhattan Project, and David Krumholtz (“The Santa Clause,” “The Deuce”) as Isidor Isaac Rabi, a close friend of Oppenheimer’s on the Manhattan Project.

There are far far more, to list the number of people in the film would take the entire review, but let it be known that they’re all doing great work, even the ones who appear for mere moments. Pugh and Blunt are particular standouts, with the latter getting a searing final scene that’ll be remembered as one of the best in her career, and Krumholtz is a warm and welcoming constant throughout the movie’s runtime. Downey Jr. is great as well but seems to almost be holding a bit back. He’s great in the way that most actors of his caliber are when given a role like this that requires a lot of monologues and yelling. Still great, but nothing revolutionary.

Murphy is an absolute revelation, however. Not only will this likely be his most known performance for many casual moviegoers, but he takes that opportunity and runs with it. Oppenheimer is a conflicted and haunted man, but it doesn’t feel like he’s simply resting on the natural horrors of the events and calling it a day. There’s conflict and clear ambition in his eyes. Even while watching the Trinity test and knowing the horrors that could be inflicted, you can see that wide-eyed scientific twinkle of fascination at what he’s accomplished. It’s not an easy feat and Murphy is an all-encompassing joy to watch.

The film is stuffed with Nolan’s particular technical trademarks and they’re just as impressive here as they’ve always been. The cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema (“NOPE,” “Tenet”) is breathtaking, especially in numerous moments that can’t be simply shown. The music from Ludwig Göransson (“Black Panther,” “Tenet”) is phenomenal and helps to build the kind of tense crescendos that Nolan loves so much. The editing as well, done by Jennifer Lame (“Marriage Story,” “Tenet”), mixed with the black-and-white and color imagery makes great use of the film’s non-linear narrative and builds a compelling tale, even for a movie that’s based on a true story. It’s hard to build this kind of tension out of material already known, but she and Nolan do it marvelously. In what will surely be a future Oscar win for the film, the sound of it all is also just, well, incredible. It’s a technical feat for the ages. Even the bomb’s explosion at the Trinity Test, which Nolan has famously stated was achieved without CGI, is something wonderous and horrifyingly magical to behold.

Let it be known as well, this is a dower film to be sure. There are no bones about Nolan or Oppenheimer’s opinions on the nuclear bomb and what its meant for our world after the fact. Those expecting a kind of inspiring movie about a scientist should turn and walk away. It’s also very clear about its opinions of the government and people who made the decision to drop said bomb. Oppenheimer himself states that he knows what happens if the Nazis have a bomb and they do not, and its not an easy choice by any measure. Its not exactly a film that would be called anti-American, but its hardly cheering and applauding what happen in Hiroshima or Nagasaki or patting the men who made that call on the back.

Yet, for all of these claims, there are moments, a handful of things holding the film back. It’s not death by a thousand cuts, perse, but moments that just feel like unexpected fat from a butcher normally celebrated for slicing all of that away. While the character of Strauss is integral to Oppenheimer’s story, the cabinet hearing scenes aren’t, and they feel tacked on from another film, simply adding to the runtime. The same goes for the younger Oppenheimer moments at the beginning of the film; they just don’t feel like they add as much to the movie besides length, padding things out before we get to the Manhattan Project. And even for those who’re fine with a movie this long and this dower, the film’s length becomes an issue by the end. There have been a lot of long movies, even in 2023, but this is a movie that feels almost an hour longer than it is. It’s not that it drags or is poorly paced, but that the nature of this material and story means that it just can’t be avoided.

Yet, even with those complaints, “Oppenheimer” is a radical achievement. If any other director turned out a work this assured, it would be their best movie by a country mile. For Nolan, it’s almost expected at this point. Regardless of how the film does, “Oppenheimer” as a movie stands as a powerful tale exemplifying some of Nolan’s best and worst qualities as a filmmaker, with a powerful lead performance from Murphy helping to anchor the movie’s emotional core. It’s quite long, and quite dower, but it’s an impeccably made film that knows that that length and dower-ness is the point. 4/5