A
film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net on July 19, 2023.
With
Oppenheimer, writer/director Christopher Nolan steps away from the
action/adventure core that has been his bread-and-butter and opts instead to
channel his inner David Lean. Despite being overlong and unevenly paced, Oppenheimer contains moments of
greatness and features one of the most compelling lead performances (by Cillian Murphy) in recent memory.
Unfortunately, some of Nolan’s less admirable tendencies remain in evidence.
Some of the artsy visuals (including black-and-white sequences and intercutting
with kaleidoscopic images) feel more self-indulgent than organic. The incessant
musical score becomes intrusive, especially during the first half. Sound mixing
issues once again cause dialogue to be drowned out upon occasion.
Over
the nearly 80 years since Oppenheimer became a household name, the media has
written, re-written, and scrubbed his reputation to suit the wants and needs of
various military and political agendas. Initially a hero when his role as the father of the atomic bomb became known,
his sterling image was tarnished by Cold War rumors of ties to the Soviet
Union. He lived under an uncertain cloud for the better part of a decade until
his receipt of the Enrico Fermi Award in 1963 brought him full circle. Nolan’s
film addresses this period of Oppenheimer’s life, shifting backward and forward
in time as suits the narrative trajectory.
Oppenheimer hones in on three
primary periods and fills in the blanks with various flashbacks and flash-forwards.
The jigsaw puzzle structure enables the movie to keep from becoming trapped in
the linear chronology regurgitation that hamstrings many bio-pics. Arguably,
however, it limits identification with Oppenheimer. A framing device is
established during the 1954 Atomic Energy Commission hearing that revoked
Oppenheimer’s security clearance. A majority of the movie’s running time
focuses on the establishment of the Manhattan Project and the events leading up
to the Trinity test in July 1945. The third element of Oppenheimer (the one presented in black-and-white) takes place
during the 1959 Senate confirmation hearings for Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), the one-time
director of the AEC who was largely responsible for Oppenheimer’s fall from
grace.
Certain
relationships – in particular, the ones between Oppenheimer and his wife, Kitty
(Emily Blunt), and his long-time
mistress, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh)
– are underwritten and would have benefitted from additional development.
Likewise, many of the scientists involved with the Manhattan Project may seem
largely interchangeable to those unfamiliar with their famous names.
Oppenheimer’s crowning sequence
is the 20-minute lead-up to the atomic bomb test code-named Trinity. This is Nolan at his best, building suspense (at the time,
there were concerns about a near zero
chance that an uncontrolled chain reaction could destroy the world) up to the
moment then delivering the climax in a historically accurate but unconventional
fashion.
Interwoven
with the development of the title character’s life story is the moral quagmire
that has dogged science since time immemorial but has become more immediate in
recent decades: how to decouple the discoveries of science with the ways in
which they are appropriated by non-scientists. Oppenheimer’s views evolve over
the course of the film. Initially a theorist, he is seduced by the
possibilities of the discovery and testing. When forced to confront the
implications of a post-atomic world (complete with waking-nightmare images of
the human toll), he comes to understand the warnings of Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) and Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh).
Cillian
Murphy’s amazing work will immediately cement him as an Oscar front-runner. His
unsmiling, haunted interpretation of the tortured physicist is Shakespearean.
When he utters the famous quote (I am
become Death, the destroyer of worlds), it is with the horror of
recognition. Unlike many psychologically conflicted characters, Oppenheimer is
never made more palatable in order to increase viewer affinity. He is cold and
his under-realized relationships with the two women in his life offer little in
the way of warmth. Even when presented naked, there is no vulnerability – only
unapproachability.
Nolan
is such a revered director that he can cast pretty much anyone he wants, even
if the role is small. To that end, luminaries such as Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, and Kenneth Branagh all
make supporting contributions (for Damon and Branagh, these are return
engagements). Robert Downey Jr., hidden underneath convincing aging makeup,
provides the closest thing that Oppenheimer
offers to a villain. Aside from Murphy, who is in about 90% of the scenes,
Downey Jr. and Damon have the most screen time. Cameos are provided by a pair
of Oscar winners: Casey Affleck (as
the creepy Boris Pash) and Gary Oldman
(as Harry Truman).
With
Oppenheimer, Nolan has turned back
the clock to movies like Gandhi, Patton, and Lawrence of Arabia – motion picture spectacles that tell the story
of a well-known (and often controversial) historical icon without worrying too
much about running time. But a key difference can’t be discounted: the
importance of an intermission. All those earlier films had one and it proved to
be critical in maintaining audience attentiveness (not to mention managing
bladder capacity). It’s possible to keep an audience in thrall for three hours
with an action-oriented film but action
is not in Oppenheimer’s DNA. The lack
of an intermission is a disservice to viewers and the movie.
Oppenheimer is an indication
that Nolan refuses to be pigeonholed as a director. While there’s something to
be admired about that, this isn’t a home run. Still, many of the flaws are more
than compensated for by the flashes of brilliance and the strength of the central
character’s presentation. This is not peak Nolan – it pales in comparison with
the likes of The Dark Knight and Interstellar – but it is one of the most
intriguing high-budget films of 2023. [Berardinelli’s rating: 3 stars out of 4]
Labels:
biography, drama, Emily Blunt, history, Matt Damon
IMDb 84/100
MetaScore (critics=89, viewers=87)
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=86, viewers=90)
Blu-ray
Berardinelli’s review (3 stars out of 4)
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