Cinema Sunday stays in the 21st century and even in this summer with today’s post. This summer’s pop culture epic convergence of “Barbenheimer” is now complete.
Following Barbie from last week, today I am writing about Oppenheimer.
I could keep this simple and tell you it’s the tale of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a super smart scientist who came up with quantum physics, oversaw construction of the first atomic bomb and then faced political and social retribution for daring to be oppose the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
But what makes Oppenheimer such a compelling film is not just the story (which is gripping and engaging) but in how director Christopher Nolan tells this story.
We follow events in the past, present and future but not necessarily in that order. There is a central through line as we see Oppenheimer progress from student to master to the guy in charge of the Manhattan Project to the atomic age icon being dragged through the political mud. But at various points of the narrative, Nolan gives us a peak at the past or the future that provides context to the narrative.
Nolan also employs both color and black & white for various sequences. While color would seem to be more realistic, our minds have been trained from old movies and news reels in black & white to see those images as historical truth. The black & white footage has a verisimilitude that color sometimes lacks.
And sound helps Nolan tell his story. The audience is inundated with the roar of too much input, too much stimuli that Oppenheimer experiences. Or the absolute quiet that conveys his isolation.
The big set piece in the 3rd act is the nuclear test at Las Alamos and when the button is pushed to spark the world’s first atomic bomb, the entire movie goes completely quiet. Zero sound as Oppenheimer gazes in equal measures of awe and horror at what he has unleashed. The rolling, boiling fires of hell curling up into the sky burn our eyes in utter silence.
Then the shock wave hits and BANG! We are immersed in the chaotic center of what has been unleashed.
But for all that which is in Nolan’s bag of directorial tricks, actors still need to do the heavy lifting and there are some truly fantastic performances in this movie.
How have we lived long enough to see Matt Damon take on the role of "tough as nails army general"? As U.S. Army General Leslie Groves, Damon gives a performance that leans into the tropes of this kind of role but is tempered with a sense of wit and wisdom that belies the usual thick headed demeanor of this kind of character. Groves knows what he wants (an atomic bomb) and when (yesterday) but he makes what others see as a daring choice by selecting Oppenheimer to head up the project. Yeah, Oppenheimer associated with Communists but damn it, Groves wants an atom bomb now and he trusts that Oppenheimer is the guy who will deliver it.
Then there's the character of Lewis Strauss, a genial sort who seems to be an advocate of J. Robert Oppenheimer but as the film unfolds and Strauss is looking to elevate his status in the Washington hierarchy, he is more than willing to destroy Oppenheimer's reputation to bolster his own. Also (and I am embarrassed it took me a minute to realize this) Lewis Strauss is played by Robert Downey Jr.
Strauss is old with a weathered wrinkled face and receding hairline barely hanging onto his thinning white hair and underneath all that is the dude who used to be Tony Stark.
And it's not just the make up that hides us from Downey but an inversion of what we usually expect from RDJ. Besides Stark, Downey has specialized in selfish jerks who follow a redemption arc to being a better person. As Strauss, we see the opposite, an outwardly kind and gentle person who unveils inner demons of rage and paranoia.
Of course at the center of the movie is the man himself, Oppenhiemer and Cillian Murphy is just magnetic in the role. Oppenheimer is not always a good man. He has sex with women who are not his wife, for example. And befitting a man of his uncommon intelligence and imagination, he can see the structure of the universe better than he can understand the people around him. But it is to Murphy's credit that bring to life a man we still want to be around, to understand better.
Even if the thousand yard stare Cillian Murphy uses is greatly disconcerting.
Besides Murphy, Downey and Damon, there's ton of acting talent in this movie: Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh (we get to see her breasts.. a lot), Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh and (in a blink or you'll miss him cameo) Jack Quaid as Richard Feynman (the physicist the guys were always gushing about on Big Bang Theory.)
I don't want to oversell this thing but damn, Oppenheimer may well be the best frigging movie I've seen in a long time.
It deserves all the accolades it's been getting and more.
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