Oppenheimer (2023)

With the possible exception of Tom Cruise, no entity in Hollywood today cares more about the theatrical experience more than Christopher Nolan.

His name is the first to come to mind when thinking of directors of his generation, and few have been as successful. His is one of the very few names in Hollywood that can draw an audience just by his name alone. He is one who goes big with every ingredient that makes a movie, letting everyone from the actors to the replacement sound guy to shine. In Oppenheimer, he has gotten the closest he has gotten to outdoing himself in some time, as it is easily the best he has done in years.

I will tread lightly, as one should know as little as possible about the film going in. Of course, the film centers around the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), who headed the Manhattan Project that would be responsible for more than just ending the Second World War. Somewhat like Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017), the film is told in different timelines, rather than being told in a linear fashion.

The film plays like a spiritual child to Oliver Stone’s masterpiece, JFK (1991). The changing of black and white to color and back again. The extreme editing. The superb colossal cast (more on that in a bit). There is also (admittedly) a good amount of confusion over what some of the actors are talking about (at least to me), but, as was the case in JFK, that did not make what was on screen any less gripping.

As for the cast, I advise you to go in knowing only the names shown on the poster and in the trailers (stay far away from Wiki and IMDB). It will be more joyous to see how many familiar faces there are going in (I made the mistake of looking ahead of time and even found one or two I did not know about).  As for those who are shown, all are sensational. This includes the likes of Emily Blunt (who thankfully is given just enough to be more than just the supporting wife role) and Matt Damon (the military officer in charge at Los Alamos).

 While Murphy is Oscar worthy indeed in the titular role, the biggest stand out to me was Robert Downey Jr. It would be beyond shocking if he were not up for Best Supporting Actor in the spring: You don’t ever get the sense you are watching the man who was once Tony Stark.

There were jokes and such on social media that Nolan made a nuclear bomb himself, as he is one who goes for the practical effects and as little CGI as possible. While I doubt he made one himself, what is show on screen makes that argument plausible. You can only imagine what the end result of the effects (both visually and audibly) will be going in, and will realize they were better and more visceral than you anticipated.

Parents, it has been well noted that this is the first Nolan film to have not only sexual content, but frontal nudity as well. There are two of them, all involving Oppenheimer’s first wife Jean (Florence Pugh). The first scene also happens rather quickly. The second comes not long after Oppenheimer is being interrogated, and is shown (for artistic purposes) naked at the table. It seems completly bizarre for Nolan to have included the nudity, even as an artistic move. It just seemed out of place. Either way, that is the main reason behind the R rating. 

You probably figured it out by now, but Oppenheimer is a film that requires multiple viewings. It has layers that I personally have only scratched the surface of. That alone is the sign of a classic film.

Okay, I will say it. In the words of my generation, this film is da bomb.

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