Official Website

Plot Summary: The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Writers: Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin

Runtime: 3 hours

• Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer
• Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer
• Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss
• Alden Ehrenreich as Senate Aide
• Scott Grimes as Counsel

Review by: Samuel

This was not at all what I was expecting based on the marketing and promotion for the film- and it turns out I’m okay with that. Rather than a tale revolving around the making of the deadliest weapon ever used in war, we actually are treated to 3 different narratives during the film’s run time.

What I liked:

The first will be what I call the main narrative that details Oppenheimer’s youth and growth into the man who eventually leads the Manhattan Project. The second takes place in the future from the main narrative and revolves around Robert Downey Jr’s character of Lewis Strauss- a potential US Senator who is being questioned about his relationship with Oppenheimer on the day he is to be voted in.

The last, also taking place in the future form the main narrative, sees an older Oppenheimer being questioned by a tribunal regarding his potential ties to communist interests. This is very clearly a kangaroo court and Oppenheimer’s security clearance (and therefore his livelihood) hangs in the balance.

The film bounces between these three narratives constantly and in no set order. It is therefore a miracle that it works so seamlessly. I don’t speak about editing often at all as pacing and plot usually are my focus, but I have to give it to whomever was on the cutting room floor for this film. It’s hard to explain in text but the timing of the cuts worked so well with the way the dialogue moved that it the jumps sometimes were meant to be one scene.

The film is teased as having an ensemble cast but honestly, there is Cillian Murphy and then everyone else. He killed it! I think people have known his talents for a while but this may be the one performance to get our favorite Peaky Blinder an Oscar. His mannerisms, voice, and way of speaking almost make me think I was watching a documentary. He IS Oppenheimer. I cannot imagine the amount of work that went into getting this role down, but he definitely did movie fans a service. He is both brilliant and funny; a nerd and a womanizer; devoted to his work but aware of its consequences.

So this is a movie about HIM rather than the bomb. In fact, the bomb kind of takes a backseat to the political thriller that this movie actually is. A lot of the tension comes not from Nazis, but from McCarthyism in the United States. The perceived threat of communism in the ’50s sparked this witch hunt for anyone thought to be loyal to the Soviets. Oppenheimer came under suspicion, and this threatened his career and legacy. He is politically active early in his life and sees communism as better than the fascism of the Nazis. His enemies use this as fuel to set a target on his back and a large part of the movie is spent with him having to deal with being followed, having his trash rummaged through, and having to defend himself as sympathetic to certain people but still loyal to the United States. The threats to him become so real that at a certain point, you stop worrying about his job and start worrying about his life.

Another thing I really enjoyed is the talks around the use of the bomb. Many scientists both before, during, and after its construction did not want to use it. I think this is a thing lost in history- we just remember that America got its revenge on Japan for Pearl Harbor by bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But we don’t (enough) talk about how many people did not want to see it used. It was a weapon of mass destruction that wasn’t ready until months after Hitler committed suicide. There were valid arguments against its use and I like that the film spent a lot of time exploring that aspect. In fact one of my favorite scenes involves Oppenheimer receiving roaring applause for his work, but he is unable to hear any of it because in his mind all he hears are screams of people who were killed by his invention- it was a powerful moment in the film.

And finally, the bomb itself. It is what you’ve heard- a spectacle. I don’t know how Nolan recreated the explosion, but I will research the behind-the-scenes for it. Even in my regular theater, it was jaw-dropping. Seeing the fire as the words “I am become death” echo in the background …is beyond words. This is what the theater was made for.

What I didn’t like

This boils down to 2 minor things for me:

• I wish the bomb itself was more of a focus – I would have liked to see more time gathering resources, building, and testing the device. When it finally detonated it was amazing but I feel it would have hit the audience more if a little extra time were devoted to expressing how destructive it would be.
• Because Cillian Murphy was the focal point, the other cast members weren’t very memorable. They did an EXCELLENT job acting but there are so many characters that it was hard to remember someone who might have spoken for 10 minutes total. So you find yourself thinking “Who is teller again?” or “Pace? Was that the General?”