Oppenheimer: A Booming Biopic
The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
The work of David Lean has influenced many renowned filmmakers (including cinema icons Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg), and when it comes to historical epics, Lean’s body of work looms as large and monumental as the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Christopher Nolan is also a known Lean enthusiast, and his work has always had an ambitious reach and notably large scope, but with Oppenheimer, Nolan’s first foray into the biopic subgenre, his adoration for Lean’s large-scale epics have never been so apparent or effective. For all intents and purposes, this is Nolan’s Lawrence Of Arabia, and while it’s not thunderous enough to topple the timeless epic of all epics (even though its incredible sound design would have you thinking otherwise), its audacious atomic ripples, contemplative depth, and sweeping narrative are clearly indebted to the foundation Lean laid down in the late-50s and early-60s.
Like Lawrence Of Arabia, Oppenheimer begins and ends with bookends that tie up its epically tragic saga with a quietly powerful and thought-provoking bow. Nolan’s often irritating and tedious penchant for intersecting non-linear narrative threads finds surprisingly strong and meaningful footing here thanks to editor Jennifer Lane. She cleverly juxtaposes the fluttering physics of nuclear fusion with its subject’s inner turmoil for Nolan’s big and booming biopic, cross-cutting timelines that collide and explode like atoms whose rippling effect forever altered the world as we know it, uncovering new symbolism in Nolan’s overbearing and suffocating style that mirrors Oppenheimer’s internal state. The use of black and white and color helps to signal the pivoting perspective shifts of its sprawling narrative, but the contrast also seems to emphasize the morally gray aspects of the Manhattan Project, underlining the film’s central line of questioning.
Following his bombastic vibe movie Tenet, Oppenheimer offers a nice character-driven change of pace that more evenly mixes Nolan’s overwhelming sense of style with some much needed substance to deliver a sobering examination of a man who’s torn apart by the triumph and tragedy of his own achievement. Much in the same way that Lawrence Of Arabia and Citizen Kane look back over their shoulder and examine their subjects, so too does Oppenheimer stare into the abyss with a self-reflective lens. Primarily, it probes into the notion of if the atomic bomb was morally or ethically necessary to put an end to the war, and it explores the internal fallout the Promethean physicist has after his “gift” of weapons of mass destruction has been given to the world. It also focuses on the atomic race for arms between Russia and America, as well as the rivalry between Oppenheimer and Lewis Strauss, amongst other things.
It does the typical Nolan thing of biting off a bit more than it can fully chew, and its dense historical nature gives way to some clunky moments and unwieldy information dumps. There’s a lot of people talking in rooms and scenes that are expositional and historically heavy, which are made more interesting and exciting than they may seem (thanks largely to the film’s editing and performances), but the film’s biggest issue is the same glaring weakness that’s permeated Nolan’s whole career: he can’t write women and he doesn’t know how to meaningfully use them in the narrative. The two central females are essentially reduced to sex object and bored housewife who sticks by her man (Emily Blunt at least gets a smidge more agency and screen time than Florence Pugh). Other than that, there’s a female scientist, Lilli Hornig (Olivia Thirlby), who’s so far pushed to the periphery she may as well not have been included. Part of these issues might be dismissed by the history that’s at play here, but the poorly written and sidelined female characters are so prevalent within Nolan’s filmography that it’s hard to turn a blind eye.
The cast on display here is Nolan’s biggest ensemble to date, and they all deliver solid performances, even when they’re only around for a handful of scenes. Cillian Murphy is brilliant as Oppenheimer and Robert Downey Jr. makes for an excellent foil with his portrayal of Strauss. Both Murphy and Downey Jr. deliver some of the finest performances of their career here, but it’s Matt Damon who brings some welcome levity to an otherwise self-serious production. All in all, when you strip away all of Oppenheimer’s Nolanisms, it’s a fairly conventional biopic that, while intriguing and captivating, doesn’t cut as deeply or linger as long as Lean’s Lawrence Of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, or The Bridge On The River Kwai. Even though it wasn’t a total winner for us, there’s still much to be enamored with, like its stunning cinematography or technical proficiency. The assembly scene where Oppenheimer speaks to a fanatically cheering crowd post-Hiroshima and Nagasaki is one of the finest sequences Nolan has ever put together, but the greatest thing the atomic bomb gave cinema is still Godzilla.
Recommendation: If you’re a fan of Christopher Nolan and enjoy epics like Amadeus or Lawrence Of Arabia, hit the detonator and feel the explosive force of Oppenheimer.
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