Pan and Slam

Oppenheimer

R 3 hrs

• Director
  • Christopher Nolan
• Stars
  • Cillian Murphy
  • Emily Blunt
  • Matt Damon

by Jason Koenigsberg

Only one director since the start of the 21st century has emerged as brand name unto himself. Like Hitchcock and Spielberg before him, Christopher Nolan can attach his name to a project, any project, and automatically receive a 200 million dollar budget, attract A-list stars and make boffo at the box office without being tied to any other properties or brand name franchises. Christopher Nolan is the brand name that always sells. His last film Tenet (2020) being the lone exception but his stubbornness to release it and try to get people back into theaters during the peak of the pandemic is the main reason it did not make a profit. Now with his newest film Oppenheimer, a biopic about the man who helped invent the atomic bomb, Nolan not only tries to entertain and educate but also redefine the summer blockbuster by making an intellectual, mature, and bleak look at humanity and our future, at a time when the most successful movies at the box office are crowd pleasing remakes, sequels, or part of an extended universe and something familiar and happy. This is making me think of the pre-summer blockbuster era before Jaws in 1975. Back in 1971 The French Connection, The Last Picture Show, and A Clockwork Orange were the three highest grossing films and were also the most mature and critically acclaimed. All were unique, somewhat dreary, R-rated, definitely not designed to please the masses, and earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture (The French Connection won). Whether this movie reignites the 2023 box office and changes how studio heads green light big budget movies has yet to be seen as it faces off against the Barbie movie in the middle of July, but the fact that he is able to do it is an accomplishment itself regardless of whether the movie is successful.

But that is why we are here, to determine if Oppenheimer is worth the trek to the cinemas to pay money to see in order to avoid the sweltering heat for three hours. The good news is that not only is Oppenheimer worth the price of admission, but it is easily one of the best films of the year and joins Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2001), The Dark Knight (2008), and Inception (2010) as being not only one of the directors best but also one of the best movies this century. The opening shot is rain drops falling onto a dark surface, we see Cillian Murphy’s face as the title character J. Robert Oppenheimer looking down and then bright orange flashes contrasting a black background. These moments tie in with the films final shots and make more sense then also driving home the importance of what these images symbolize for Oppenheimer and for all of humanity. Nolan juxtaposes bright color cinematography against black and white cinematography and by the end he makes it clear why regarding character motivation but explaining more of his decisions when to use black and white would enter into spoiler territory.

Christopher Nolan not only directed and produced Oppenheimer but is the sole screenwriter. The way he structures this film feels like we are time hopping through the main characters memories. This is similar to other cerebral movies of his that engage the viewer on a deep psychological level. Oppenheimer is driven by fast dialogue, quick Michael Bay style edits, and tight camera shots as the characters speak displaying every detail of their face showing the gravity of the situations they are dealing with immersed with human emotions in practically every frame. This is a very dialogue heavy film, probably the most of Nolan’s filmography and Oppenheimer is directed and edited with such skill the three-hour runtime flies by. This is the fastest three-hour historical based movie since Oliver Stone’s JFK (1991). In fact, this feels like JFK made for audiences and sentiments in 2023. So that means there is no controversy, well very little controversy other than a few sex scenes with Florence Pugh’s exposed breasts. That counts as controversy in the post Harvey Weinstein Hollywood era. But both movies are passion projects from their directors and are expertly crafted masterworks that deal with history in a tense and topical manner and never drag despite the three-hour run time. It is doubtful anyone will check the time on their phone during Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer continues Christopher Nolan’s affinity for dark haired beauties, unlike Hitchock who preferred blondes, with Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer, his wife, and the aforementioned Pugh as another love interest of the main character who left a deep impression on him. Both women deliver distinguished performances. The movie itself is about J. Robert Oppenheimer and Cillian Murphy excels at capturing all the heavy emotions that he went through creating the atomic bomb and dealing with its aftermath. It is an outstanding complex performance. Murphy has been a fixture in movies for about twenty years now, first getting international attention as the lead in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later (2003) and popping up as lead and supporting roles, several of which have been directed by Christopher Nolan. Mr. Nolan is obviously very loyal to the actors that he likes and gave Cillian Murphy the lead role and surrounded him with some actors that are bigger household names. One of which is Matt Damon as the army general who hires Oppenheimer to run the Manhattan Project. He is terrific in that role and another name that deserves to be mentioned is Robert Downey Jr. as a quasi scientist, quasi politician and his character evolves so well thanks to such a nuanced performance he should probably earn a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Oppenheimer is an edge of your seat psychological thriller as much as it is a historical biopic of the man who helped create mankind’s most devastating weapon. Where Oppenheimer succeeds the most is not only in creating such a compelling story but how the screenplay focuses on the ideas and consequences of the creation. No other country has ever used an atomic bomb, and hopefully they never will, and there has never been another war like World War II since Germany and Japan surrendered, and there probably never will be. All the wars since have been small scale skirmishes compared to World War II with guerrilla tactics but for the most part wars have been fought as Cold Wars and economic battles with Wall Street as the front line.

Oppenheimer is particularly critical of the jingoistic military attitude our army is often associated with. Some of the strongest scenes involve everyone celebrating after the bombs successful test with the American flag in the background. These show American patriotism as foolhardy and shortsighted not seeing the ramifications of the destruction this weapon will cause. There is also a scathing scene involving President Truman demeaning Dr. Oppenheimer after he congratulates him on his invention. The way the camera shakes and makes the background out of focus in certain moments and how the sound effects are used to emphasize how cheering and stomping can sound as hostile as troops marching and bombs dropping are hauntingly effective. The entire crew uses all of the tools to construct Oppenheimer as a strong anti-war picture.

Oppenheimer is incredibly powerful regarding how it deals with the moral and emotional consequences of the atomic bomb. In the final stretches it also shows the dark, seedy side of government with power hungry politicians using Dr. Oppenheimer as a pawn for their own personal advantage. With Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan has achieved a type of revered pertinency he has not with his other films. This may not be his masterpiece or the best movie of the past ten years but Oppenheimer certainly deserves to be in the discussion for both of those conversations.