Directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer tells the story of the personal and historical life of “the father of the atomic bomb,” J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), whose work at the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos Laboratory led to the invention of the first nuclear weapons during World War II, changing the course of world history forever.
From one largely talked about film about an iconic doll brand we come to another largely talked about film about one the most important figures in the history of the world for better and worse. Christopher Nolan is easily one of the best directors in the film industry, having made his mark with a number of fantastic films over the years, earning himself a massive following. However, many people felt that he fell a bit off the wagon when it came to his previous film, Tenet. It was one of his most ambitious films to date that played with a lot of the themes he has tackled in his previous films but took things a step further. While it was by no means a bad film I did feel that it wasn’t as well executed as Nolan intended, and ended up being way too complicated for a lot of people, including fans of his work like myself. I think Nolan himself understood this, which is why he had taken a step back from overly ambitious stories about time and instead decided to go back to basics with this historical biopic.
But even when working with something simple Nolan can make it extremely engaging and layered, especially when following such a complex and intriguing figure like Oppenheimer whose story many people may not know. And because of that many people were very excited to see this film, especially because it has one of the largest ensemble casts Nolan has ever worked with.
A lot of hype and expectations were built up for this film so I was really hoping for the best. After watching it I can say that this film certainly lives up to some of the hype and that Nolan has created another incredible film to add to his lineup. But would I go as far as to call it a masterpiece as everyone else has?
I don’t think I would, because I feel certain expectations of mine weren’t met and that perhaps it was a bit too overhyped for me. The film is still amazing as a cinematic experience and it is masterfully crafted in a number of ways but there are things about it that I feel held it back from being absolute perfection.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with my thoughts and I know there will probably be backlash for this review from a number of people, but I believe in always being honest with all my reviews even for films made by well-known directors that have made work that I have loved. With that said let’s dive into what worked and didn’t work for me in Oppenheimer.
Starting with the massive ensemble cast, I can say that every single performance for each role is perfectly delivered by their respective cast members. Everyone commits to their part and does a great job making this film feel as authentic as possible in the scientific, political, and historical settings this film tackles.
The tip of the spear in this ensemble is Cillian Murphy as the titular Oppenheimer, who delivers an absolutely phenomenal performance that truly carries the entire film. Cillian perfectly captures a tortured individual whose magnificent mind is both a gift and a curse that has impacted his personal life and the history of the world. The film explores not only the trauma of living with a brain like Oppenheimer’s, but what you do with it, and what lengths you are willing to go to. There are so many layers to him that you see develop over the course of the film, making it feel largely like a great character study of an important individual that you see struggle with so much due to his involvement in so many significant historical events.
Seeing how his firm patriotism and ambition turns to horror and feeling morally conflicted was extremely investing for me and had me hooked from start to finish, thanks largely in part to Cillian’s perfect acting and Nolan’s brilliant writing.
Another strong performance that plays a large part in the film despite being considered a supporting role is Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a major historical figure in the development of nuclear weapons and eventual political enemy to Oppenheimer, determined to make him fall from grace. Robert strongly delivers so much ferocity as this manipulative government official who is attempting to work his way up the ladder of government, looking to make a mockery of Oppenheimer who he has chosen as his adversary due to their opposing views on the use of nuclear power. I found the story of Strauss to be equally as compelling as Oppenheimer’s story but from a more black-and-white perspective shown both literally and figuratively. Robert truly gives his best performance since Iron Man, as well as one of the best supporting performances of the year, and he deserves all the accolades. These two were the massive standouts of the film for me that I felt were utilized perfectly and handled the best.
When it comes to the rest of the cast involved this is where my main issues with the film begin. The main problem I had was the way the rest of this massive ensemble was handled in comparison to other large ensemble casts in other films like the recent Barbie. In Barbie, I felt that nearly every cast member had their chance to shine brilliantly in their roles, feeling like actual living and breathing characters that had developed throughout the film. The same was not felt in Oppenheimer as it seemed like most of the cast, including some that had top billing, were largely mishandled or written in a way where they felt like plot devices rather than developed characters. And I get this is meant to be historically accurate in terms of how much involvement these figures had in certain events, as well as their involvement in Oppenheimer’s complex life, but I was honestly expecting so much more to come out of the cast, especially with all the big and talented names present.
Rather than using their talents to his advantage Nolan just seemed to use this large cast as historical chess pieces on a board taking turns in the plot, without having any real time to shine or feel fleshed out despite the good performances they are given by their respective cast members.
One of the major castings I was looking forward to in this film was Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock but unfortunately, she is extremely underutilized in the film and I felt she could have been given a lot more to do. When Florence is on screen she is absolutely fearless and hypnotic as Jean Tatlock, delivering yet another incredible performance in her long continuous streak of great performances. She does serve as somewhat a key part of the story with her impact on Oppenheimer’s personal life because of their romance as well as her historical association with the Communist Party that impacts later events. But it felt way too small of a part for someone of Florence’s talent and I couldn’t help but feel like she was almost wasted on such a small role despite being given top billing on the marketing.
Another major casting I was looking forward to was Emily Blunt as Katherine Oppenheimer, and much like with Florence I was majorly disappointed by how underutilized she was in this film despite being so hyped up. I couldn’t help but feel the relationship between her and Robert Oppenheimer was not explored enough nor written well as it seems to skip over how they got together so quickly and how they had such a complicated relationship. On top of that, she felt very stereotypical with the way she is written, having a lot of biopic wife tropes that I honestly hated seeing, especially when it’s coming from someone like Nolan. I was led to believe that Katherine was going to be Oppenheimer’s strength that supported him in his darkest moments throughout the film, but aside from two major scenes I didn’t feel like she contributed that much to his story as a whole.
Maybe I was setting up my expectations too high for this ensemble cast but you seriously can’t blame me for feeling a bit disappointed with all these big names being cast and hyped up so much, only for most of them to not be used to full advantage. I was expecting this film to be a lot more character-driven all around than heavily plot-driven.
The story follows Oppenheimer through various stages of his life from different perspectives, from his early years as a physicist to his involvement in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II, to his involvement in the domestic war against communism at the height of the Cold War. Each of these stages is largely connected through a near seamless narrative Nolan has crafted, where even the smallest and most personal events in Oppenheimer’s life end up having larger consequences for him later on, and even impact history as a whole.
This film is also very dialogue-heavy in the same vein as films like JFK, and while that might not be everyone’s cup of tea I will say I was never bored by this. Even though I was disappointed by most of the characters being used as plot devices rather than feeling like actual people I will say the conversations they had, whether they be scientific or political, were all very tense and engaging making every interaction feel investing, and the build-up to major events pay off in massive ways.
The themes of the horror and moral reckoning of nuclear weaponry play a huge part in this film and it’s all written and executed brilliantly as it’s interwoven with other events, making the film feel investing despite the lack of character development.
And as for the 3-hour runtime, I will be honest and say I didn’t have any issue with it. Honestly, it flew by for me and I didn’t feel like there was any point where the film dragged or felt boring, which I think was the main concern for everyone going in. There were a few scenes that I felt were unnecessary or could have been shortened a bit but other than that I had no major issue with the runtime or pacing of the film. I just wish it could have used the runtime to flesh out the things I had problems with in the film as a whole.
When it comes to all the technical elements I can say that I had zero issues with this side of the film. Everything on a technical level was masterful especially when it comes to the complete usage of practical effects. No, Nolan did not detonate an actual nuclear bomb but he certainly did recreate the look and impact of one, especially in the well-built-up Trinity Test which is a visual treat and thematic horror for the eyes.
The cinematography is absolutely stellar as is the editing, as one would expect from Nolan. And I can happily say that Nolan fixed that damn audio problem from Tenet in this film and made up for it with masterful use of sound editing for a lot of scenes that add so many layers. And then of course there is the amazingly beautiful and haunting score by Ludwig Gorannson that truly elevates this film on a massive scale, making all the small and major moments that occur feel really impactful.
Oppenheimer is indeed a unique cinematic experience and I do think it is a well-made film by Nolan but honestly, I was expecting a lot more from it and because of that, I find myself unable to love it as much as I wanted to and unable to refer it as a masterpiece. Maybe I had my expectations too high and perhaps over time I may learn to like this film a bit more than I do now, but then again I’m not really sure. I just feel like there was so much that was hyped up that I feel never came to fruition and because of it I just didn’t find it as perfectly masterful as I was hoping it to be. Despite my mixed feelings I do still highly recommend it as it is a cinematic experience worth seeing and it is important to support the many individuals involved with the making of this film because they deserve it now more than ever. For the time being, I’m going to give Oppenheimer a B+ = 89.
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