Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is the second half of the highly anticipated “Barbenheimer” phenomenon. After seeing both, I'm not exactly sure how one would be able to sit through both in a double feature. Nolan's Oppenheimer is a technical masterclass, but the film fumes out in its second act (and particularly in its last hour) despite a great performance from Cillian Murphy.
Oppenheimer review
In many ways, the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy) is a Shakespearean tragedy. The film opens up with the legend of Prometheus, who gave fire to humans and was then tortured for eternity as a result. That's exactly what occurs over the course of Nolan's three-hour epic. You may expect Oppenheimer to be a three-hour epic that culminates in the Trinity test, but the film strives to be so much more for better or worse.
Framed around both the investigation of the titular physicist and his part in the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer goes back in time to Nolan's second feature, Memento, with its usage of black and white photography. The scenes in color represent Oppenheimer's subjective point of view, while the black and white scenes are an objective observation of the historical events.
This is a blessing and a curse, as Nolan balances the blend of the two. At some point in the middle, the film shifts into color and doesn't look back until Oppenheimer's tedious last hour. The reality of it is — you can't always have it both ways. There are two films going on, and once the Trinity test goes down, Oppenheimer does become a bit of a horror film that's carried by Murphy. I get that Oppenheimer pushed the boundaries of the capabilities of IMAX film prints, but the last hour of Oppenheimer will make you question if there was actual intent in making a three-hour film or if it was self-indulgence. It's not that the investigation of Oppenheimer isn't intriguing, but it just continues to trudge on after reaching such a peak with the Trinity test.
Murphy gives a performance of a man slowly descending into madness that deserves all of the praise. Staring into the eyes of a lost soul for three hours in 70mm IMAX is quite the experience, and it's certainly his best performance under Nolan's direction. Murphy's portrayal of Oppenheimer finds the balance of brilliance that borders on egotistical and womanizer similar to the characters that Robert Downey Jr. made a career out of.
For as flawed as it is, the final hour is carried by Murphy and his loss of sanity. After the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that killed thousands, Oppenheimer feels that there is blood on his hands — the kind of guilt that most of Martin Scorsese's leading men feel in the third act of his films. In the last hour of the film, the Prometheus mythos begins settling in as the guilt continues to pile up. Murphy is assisted by Nolan's choices behind the camera such as subtly showing him losing touch with reality by making backgrounds shift or the people in a room with him disappear to make it all the more claustrophobic. There's a great scene at a rally where all of the sound drowns out and all the viewer can hear is Oppenheimer's words and movements.
It has been a very long time since Downey has given a real dramatic performance in a leading role. Since The Avengers in 2012, Downey has only had a few non-MCU roles. Even some of those roles were just cameos such as his pop-ups in Chef and The Nice Guys, and we won't talk about Dolittle. So by default, Oppenheimer is Downey's best performance since The Judge. As Lewis Strauss, Downey disappears and (mostly) rids himself of his signature RDJ line delivery. It does slip in here and there, but for the most part, we haven't seen Downey play such a slimy role in so long.
The rest of the ensemble gets their moments to varying degrees. Big stars like Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Florence Pugh all have healthy roles in the film, but smaller established names like Jack Quaid, Josh Peck, Alex Wolff, and Devon Bostick don't get their time to shine. And then there are some like Dane DeHaan who make a great impression in their limited time. Out of the non-Murphy or Downey roles, Blunt stands tall and gives a powerful performance — especially as the film gets into the latter stages.
Benny Safdie also does good work as Edward Teller. As a filmmaker, Safdie is incredible. As an actor, he continues raising his stock. His first notable role was in his own film (co-directed with his brother Josh) Good Time opposite Robert Pattinson, but his versatility has been shown in films like Licorice Pizza where he played a politician and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret where he played an average American dad. In Oppenheimer, he plays a legendary physicist whose ego is as fragile as it is big.
When it comes to Oppenheimer's visuals, it is stunning. Nolan is the king of IMAX and makes the most of the 600 lb. film prints. It's not just the explosive shots — scenes in the courtroom with Downey look like they're historical photographs, and the final shot (which is seen in the trailer) leaves a lasting impression on your mind. Nolan's collaborative relationship with Hoyte van Hoytema from Interstellar onward may have been one of the best choices in his entire career. Hoytema translates the beautiful shots of the desert landscapes from Jordan Peele's Nope to the deserts of Jornada del Muerto. The desert is a great representation of opportunity given its openness, and Hoytema makes the most of his.
But you're coming to see the film for the Trinity test. Rest assured, this sequence lives up to the hype. You know that a filmmaker is doing something right when a film adapting historical events can still keep you on the edge of your seat as Oppenheimer does when the countdown begins. Once the clock hits zero, you're engulfed in the flames that just rage on. The sound design — which is a major step up after only being able to understand a third of Tenet — also shines in these sequences. Our seats didn't shake as they did during the Dolby screenings of Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, but it still hits you like a wave when the explosions go off.
Should you see Oppenheimer?
If you're going to watch Oppenheimer, it is imperative that you see it on the biggest screen possible. It's a tricky sell as Oppenheimer is one of Nolan's weaker entries in recent years, but this is a film that's being sold as a visual feast — and it lives up to that billing. This is Christopher Nolan's grand opera, and Cillian Murphy gives a tour de force performance. However, it cannot be ignored that the film loses some steam and drops the bomb in the plodding last hour.
Grade: C+
Oppenheimer will be released on July 21.
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