Oppenheimer (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.

My Take – I think we can all attest to the fact that the release of a Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception) film is nothing short of an event. After all the filmmaker consistently sets the bar high with his ambitious vision and attention to detail. Add to that his reputation for delivering blockbuster successes, both commercially and artistically, has made him one of the few working directors who can still command a studio to provide him a $100 million budget for a non-franchise film.

But what clearly makes writer-director Nolan stand apart from his peers is how despite basing his films in the mainstream category he is never afraid to challenge his audience with demanding, complicated stories and inexplicable plots. And in that sense, his latest film too is no exception, which along with being his most complex work to date, is also one of the best cinematic experience ever.

Despite being based on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the creator of the Atomic Bomb, The 180-minute film, adapted by Nolan from the 2005 biography ‘American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer’ by Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin, is based on the life of Dr. J Robert Oppenheimer, the creator of the Atomic Bomb, and works as an intricately structured and uniquely tragic analysis of this complex man’s legacy, and how it still affects everyone several decades later.

But in true Nolan fashion, the story is not told as a conventional biopic but rather as a thrilling fragmented, non-sequential series of highlights pertaining to the title subject’s life along. Leaving you stunned with its exceptional cinematography, sound design, and score. Combined that with the efforts of both Cillian Murphy‘s lead performance acting and Nolan‘s direction, the film succeeds in making Oppenheimer one of the most fascinating individuals of the 20th century.

Sure, it is a bit too a long and at times exhausting, but as a biopic and a Christopher Nolan film, the film virtually exceeds all expectations to become one of the very best in both fields. There are few films that are able to tackle such subject matter in this much detail while also remaining entertaining the whole way through.

As with much of Nolan’s prior work, the film is chronologically fractured, recounting its tale from two perspectives: that of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), in color, in two time lines, and of Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), the Atomic Energy Commission chairman, in black-and-white.

During the height of the Second World War, theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is recruited by United States Major General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon), to oversee the Manhattan Project, a top secret operation intended to develop the world’s first nuclear weapon. Determined to build this weapon of mass destruction before the Nazis can devise their own, Oppenheimer and Groves set up a discreet base in the vast desert of Los Alamos, New Mexico and are joined by numerous other scientists and their families.

With the War raging and personal troubles mounting, Oppenheimer continues to push himself to his utmost limits, but soon suffers the consequences of his dedication, when the bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Years later, mainly due to his vocal advocacy against further nuclear development, Oppenheimer finds himself in a kangaroo court led by the aggressive Roger Robb (Jason Clarke), who has brought around all kinds of witnesses, including his wife Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt), to decide whether Oppenheimer is a Russian spy, has ties to communism due to his affair with Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) and therefore needs to be stripped of his security clearance. All the while as Strauss pursues the Secretary of Commerce position he has long coveted for in a hearing before the 1959 Senate.

Here, director Nolan, renowned for his grand storytelling, masterfully depicts the emotional journey of the Father of the Atomic Bomb. He takes a captivating approach, focusing not on the A-bomb’s making but on its creator’s life. The film plays out like a 1970s-style conspiracy thriller, in which unfounded suspicions about Communism combine with a narrow definition of nationalism to make a villain out of a hero.

With the sprawling cast lined up for a film that is grand in vision, grandiloquent in its staging and leaves you breathless with the weight of the world on your shoulders, just as J. Robert Oppenheimer was at a pivotal time in history.

His socialist sympathies and Judaism are presented as core aspects of his personality and motivation for embarking upon his atom-bomb quest, and the former proves a persistent thorn in his side and results in his downfall. The film serves as both a history lesson and a cautionary tale about what happens when one’s own ambition and drive clouds their judgement and puts the fate of mankind and innocent lives at risk.

The film wrestles with questions of justness and responsibility regarding the atom bomb’s development and function, and with Oppenheimer’s alternately reasonable, reckless, and misguided decisions. It’s a complex character study-cum-history lesson that recognizes that our greatest accomplishments can also be our doom, violently shaking the world in explosions of dazzling light and cacophonous sound that leave behind charred bodies, tattered reputations, and tormented psyches.

Visually stunning, as all of Christopher Nolan’s work is, this is one film that really stays with you. It segues between intimate close-ups of Murphy’s lined, gaunt face and made-for-70mm-IMAX panoramas of cities, mountain ranges, and the cosmos until the two, like every other at-odds element in this drama, feel naturally wedded to one another.

The absence of CGI in showing the A-bomb detonation in Los Alamos is a remarkable achievement by the entire team, resulting in one of the film’s most impressive sequences. The background score has been used wherever necessary, you’ll be on the edge of your seat as you listen to each successive beat.

Cillian Murphy has appeared in six Nolan films, with this one marking his first lead role and he owns up to it. From his commitment to develop the atomic bomb through his team of scientists to promoting quantum physics, Murphy plays the part as though it was always meant to be his. The rest of the film’s cast all did a fantastic job as well, with the standouts being Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, and Florence Pugh. It is particularly great to see Downey Jr. excel as Lewis Strauss, which is not only his best post-MCU role but one of his best roles in general.

The film is also backed by a stacked supporting cast – Josh Hartnett, Jason Clarke, Kenneth Branagh, David Krumholtz, Rami Malek, Josh Hartnett, Benny Safdie, Casey Affleck, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, ‎Josh Peck, Dane DeHaan, David Dastmalchian, Jack Quaid, Olivia Thirlby, Michael Angarano, ‎Josh Peck, Matthia Schweighofer, Louise Lombard, James D’Arcy, Tony Goldwyn, Louise Lombard, David Rysdahl, Alex Wolff, Emma Dumont, Dylan Arnold, Gary Oldman, and Tom Conti, are all effective. On the whole, ‘Oppenheimer’ is yet another cinematic masterpiece from Christopher Nolan, anchored by exceptional storytelling, strong performances and genius cinematography.