This is not the first time that Christopher Nolan has produced a film that exploded at the box office. Nolan has been one of the most successful filmmakers this decade, and he certainly does not disappoint with his latest film, Oppenheimer, based on the 2005 biography, The American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Oppenheimer (rated R) details the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and his work on the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II. Murphy and Nolan have now teamed up in six films: Dunkirk, Inception, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and now, Oppenheimer.
The film also explores the aftermath of Oppenheimer’s experiments and the trials convicting him of secretly being a communist. This part of the movie can be hard to follow if you are not up-to-date on your Cold War knowledge. Even though it can be confusing, these scenes are very well done and give off strong feelings of suspense and uncertainty.
The film’s mastery is evident in every scene, but this is mastery without arrogance. Nolan avoids letting the importance of the subject of the film get to his head, as he contextualizes a larger Oppenheimer into a larger discussion of achievement, family, jealousy, and reflection. One way in which he demonstrates this is through his transitions from black and white to colored sections of the film. Black and white are used during the more documentary-style scenes covering the hearing and the confirmation, while color is used for the more introspective, narrative parts.
The hearing and confirmation was mainly set up by Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey, Jr.), who was jealous of Oppenheimer’s popularity and recognition. Downey, Jr. returns to the big screen in a huge way after a brief hiatus. Though his role in the film is smaller than what he is accustomed to, he plays the part perfectly and reminds everyone why he is one of the best actors we have seen in the modern era.
General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) directed the Manhattan Project and was the one who recruited Oppenheimer in the first place. Matt Damon adds to his already impressive list of characters by playing a part that fits who he is today. Compared to playing Sonny Vacaro in Air (2023), who is a young and flashy Nike employee, Damon plays Groves, who is a slightly overweight, middle-aged military general. This just speaks to the versatility of Matt Damon that comes with nearly 30 years of experience.
There are many other great acting jobs in Oppenheimer, including Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, and Josh Peck, which shows that the sum of its parts is what makes the movie so great. People were worried that the actual story of the creation of the atomic bomb would not be able to be made into an enjoyable movie, but we should have known not to doubt Christopher Nolan.
The moment that encapsulates the greatness for me is the scene of the testing of the weapon. We as the audience knew that it was going to work, yet we were all still on the edges of our seats vigorously flailing popcorn into our mouths. The buildup to this moment was so thrilling that it actually made the viewer feel like they were in Los Alamos, waiting for the sound of the explosion.
Oppenheimer is overall a cinematic masterpiece and will go down as one of the greatest historical movies of all time. Take a bow, Christopher Nolan.
Phar-Rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
