Movies
“Oppenheimer” Is Fucking Outstanding.
A crowning achievement. An explosive, complex and thought provoking three hour masterpiece. Christopher Nolan has done it.
“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
Staring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Jason Clarke, Kenneth Branagh, Florence Pugh
Release Date: July 21, 2023
IMDB
A crowning achievement. An explosive, complex and thought provoking three hour masterpiece. Christopher Nolan has done it. At its core, Oppenheimer (2023) is a character study of Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) funneled through his time creating the atomic bomb. But the movie is so much more than that. Oppenheimer is part about the construction of a deadly weapon, and part about a man’s reputation being systematically destroyed by rapidly changing societal and political agendas. The flames of the atomic bomb could reach 10,000 feet in the air, but the heights of secrecy, hypocrisy, and greed have no limits.
Oppenheimer is a hyper focused masterpiece that explores what it means to be the world’s most hated, loved, burdened, misunderstood and successful man in the entire world.
Time is needed to reflect when comparing Oppenhiemer to Nolan’s previous projects. We should let society and culture curators breathe and come up for air before ranking it among all of the blockbuster director’s work. Hindsight is important when determining what is “best”.
But with that being said. It is not absurd to say that Oppenheimer is the best thing Christopher Nolan has ever written. In terms of dialogue, building up of themes, leaving room for interpretation and overall story pacing, Oppenheimer is a masterclass. The three acts of the film could be watched and appreciated on their own, but together they build a towering achievement that bursts at the seams with depth.
Not only does Nolan weave through philosophical, political and scientific battlegrounds throughout the story, but he also finds a way to flip the audience’s expectations with dual timelines. It wouldn’t Nolan if he didn’t mess with time in some way, right?
Rather than following the lead of Manhattan Project and its splitting of the atom, Nolan’s screenplay acts like a vice and channels all its thematic elements into a riveting fast-talking courtroom drama-esq third act. Oppenheimer bypasses the audience’s expectations by not making the atomic bomb explosion the climax. Nolan leads viewers to water, and just when you think one’s thirst for quality filmmaking is quenched, the five-time Oscar nominated mastermind pulls out a delicious digestif to keep everyone drooling for more.
Alright, this sounds heavy, right? Someone is reading this asking themselves “Why do I want to watch this?”
What if I were to tell you that Oppenheimer is the funniest movie Christopher Nolan has ever made? There are plenty of scenes of scientists and politicians talking in rooms, but Nolan’s screenplay takes cues from Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964).
None of the lines are going to make you slap your knee, but when a military official decides to not bomb a certain Japanese city because he and his wife honeymoon there, it is hilarious. You also have a short scene with Gary Oldman playing President Truman that is brimmed with truthful over-the-top line readings.
The creation of the atomic bomb is objectively a terrifying development, and Oppenheimer shows that normal men are trying to get their hands around this newfound terror. Normal, egotistical badge-wearing men are seeing this monumental moment in black and white, and Nolan is clever enough to poke fun at the serious self-stroking absurdity of some of Oppenherimer’s characters. And Robert Oppenheimer himself is not immune from the laughs. Cillian Murphy delivers a line in the third act about some extra-marital affairs that is *chef’s kiss* fantastic.
Oppenheimer’s story has multiple timelines, dozens of names, and tid-bits that can only be appreciated with multiple viewings. However, you only need one sit down to appreciate the themes, motifs and lessons that Nolan’s script and Cillian Murphy’s performance deliver.
The dangling threads about ego, purpose, reason, intellectual curiosity, martyrdom and sense of duty are just a few of the probing conversations that Oppenheimer brings to the table. The story is not afraid to look at the hypocrisy that humanity envelopes itself in. The idea of wanting to be a god, but not wanting to have the final say over some almighty decisions. The balance between exploration for the sake of science versus the sake of country versus the sake of pride.
Walking out of the theater, it is impossible not to think about Oppeheimer’s famous quote: “Now I am Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.” He is quoting from Hindu scripture, and as a curious intellectual, he discovers this quote early on in his life. Oppenheimer first says this line in the movie far earlier than you would think, but the context in which he says it is a fascinating moment. The feelings he is having when he cites this line show an insight to what he desires most, and the second time we hear the line is under far different circumstances. One could say both mentions of “Now I am Death, the Destroyer of Worlds” are traditionally euphoric moments, but nirvana is nowhere near Oppenheimer’s thoughts during its utterance.
The world’s top physicist wants to shake up the world with his newfound theories. He wants to destroy the world of science with his inventive thinking. He has the grandiose questions about stars and what happens when they die. The gravity well that is created until nothing is left. Little does Oppenheimer know that his life path may be filled with the same emptiness that he theorizes about in his youth. He wants to destroy people’s expectations of science, yet his profound knowledge of the subject leads to the death of thousands and the concept of international diplomatic trust.
Oppenheimer has a dizzying amount of thematic elements to debate. While Nolan tells the story with a certain leaning, he sews in multiple different points of views on the different subject matters seamlessly. No character in Oppenheimer is one-dimensional. All have changes of heart. All have deep-seeded conflicts within them that force them to look at themselves in the mirror. It is a hard thing to do, look at oneself in the mirror and say you are happy with who you are. Oppenheimer does that for the main character, and then holds our eyes open to his, and the world’s reaction.
The one man you can not take your eyes off of in Oppenheimer is the one and only Cillian Murphy. The man most known for being sullen yet confident Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders takes on the part of Robert Oppenheimer with a dignified sense of arrogance. All scientists, especially Oppenheimer, are inherently selfish. They want their success to stick out among the rest. They want their name on the project and eventually etched on the university building.
What Murphy does with the character of Oppenheimer is create an inherently selfish fellow, but one that is very self aware. He knows he is a bit of an odd duck and he finds his niche, but having this conscience doesn’t mean he isn’t oblivious to what people think about him. Throughout the movie he is humbled by friends, lovers and colleagues as to how he has changed.
By the end of Oppenheimer, the skin and bones physicist is made up of nothing more than his morals, and his accomplishments. Relationships are splintered, and his reputation is in danger. Oppenheimer is a curious intellectual who likes to learn about things even if he doesn’t agree, and that rubs many people the wrong way. Murphy plays this depressed yet convicted man with a delicate balance of patience and exasperation. Murphy shines throughout the entire movie, but his efforts in the third act carry him off into award worthy levels.
Murphy’s buddy come the 96th Academy Awards is going to be Robert Downey Jr. It is remarkable how talented Downey Jr. is when he is playing a part and not playing to a crowd. Yes, that was a shot at Iron Man and Marvel. Moving on.
Downey Jr. plays the part of Lewis Strauss, a man who has an immense effect on Oppenheimer’s life despite being in it for a short time. Nolan’s screenplay introduces the two-time Oscar nominee at the start of the movie and then has him remaining subdued during the second act. Strauss appears as part of an atomic committee in short spurts, but Downey Jr.’s performance in the final hour tosses all of Oppenheimer on its head.
The genius of Oppenheimer is in its third act. After the bomb. After Nolan’s visual splendor. The third act of Oppenheimer focuses on Strauss’s hearing to be approved to the presidential cabinet. How did Strauss get here on the hot seat? He is happy to explain it to you. Politics is a game, and Strauss is very good at playing it. The behind-the-scenes scheming plays a massive part in the McCarthyism attitude that poisons the public’s view on Oppenheimer. The physicist on the cover of Time magazine is being ricocheted in a pinball machine theme stained by bruised egos. Strauss is the one who pulled the initial lever, and Downey Jr. portrays Strauss’s point of view with silent calculated violence.
Murphy and Downey Jr. are not the only actors who stepped up to the plate. Emily Blunt knocks it out of the park as Kitty Oppenheimer, especially when she emasculates Robert and goes right at Roger Cobb, who is played by Jason Clarke. Alden Ehrenreich comes out of nowhere in the final hour and felt right at home next to Downey Jr. Matt Damon has a few cheesy lines but he has the necessary comedic relief that is very much needed. Florence Pugh brings a wholly unique feel to the movie as Jean Tatlock. And how nice is it to have Kenneth Branagh, Josh Hartnett, Alex Wolff, David Dastmalchian, Casey Affleck, and Gary Oldman just pop in for a few scenes?
Now, how do I wrap up a blog post where my ramblings are on the same level as a high schooler’s love letter?
How about this?
Curiosity doesn’t always mean endorsement, and that may be a lesson many can take heart in today. Check out things you don’t fully understand, or even things you may not like. If my ramblings about Oppenheimer didn’t get you interested in the movie, then I ask you to take Oppenheimer’s mindset to heart. You won’t become the Destroyer of Worlds, but you will become appreciative of what an outstanding thought-provoking movie can make you feel.
STANKO RATING: A
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