Oppenheimer (2023) movie review

Christopher Nolan wrote and directed this story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who led the Manhattan Project which built the first atomic bomb, changing the world forever. This is not only an important story but also timely, warning us about the destructive capability of human will and ingenuity, as a war like the two big ones in the first half of the 20th century could lead to the end of life as we know it. The magnificent cinematic scale of the film is on par with the biggest, most ambitious movies ever made.

It’s a whole other feat, becoming the 3rd highest grossing movie of 2023 and a cultural phenomenon coupled with Barbie termed as ‘Barbenheimer’. It’s a tough watch too. Going back and forth in time before and after the creation of the bomb, discussing theoretical physics, communist ideas, the nuclear arms race and the Cold War. But if you watch it, you witness the power of cinema as a combination of all that has been learned and achieved through the art form since its dawn.

We follow Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) during key events of his life from his time as a doctoral student at the University of Cambridge in 1926, to 1963 when he was awarded the Enrico Fermi Award for his lifetime achievements. Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist with great imaginative stamina, imagining cosmic and sub-atomic occurrences in vivid detail. Nolan gives us a glimpse of what it would be like to live in Oppenheimer’s mind. With a combination of practical and CG effects, his imagination comes to life onscreen with charged sound effects. He had the vices that made him a controversial figure throughout his life, but his intellectual capabilities were undeniable.

When the time came to create a program that could build a bomb that could end the war, he was on the list of candidates considered to head it. Matt Damon as General Groves smashes onto the screen to meet Oppenheimer and size him up for the task. As the no-bullshit General, Damon brings exciting energy to the scenes he is in, in one of his finest performances. The project’s success relies on the General, and he uses every tool in his kit to ensure he delivers. As the director of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer believes that he’s racing against time as the Nazis are 18 months ahead in their search for the bomb. He envisions building an entire town in Los Alomos to entice the best minds in the world to work on the project. As he is recruiting members, he impresses upon them the significance of building the bomb that can put an end to the Nazi rule. Complications arise when it becomes clear the Nazis are going to lose the war without having to exercise an atomic bomb. 

World War II marches on against Japan but are they a big enough threat to the US for them to use a nuclear bomb against? It’s too late to ask that question as the expectations after years of research, time and money being invested in the project must derive the desired results. The date is declared for the bomb’s delivery and targets have been set. In the nightmarish scene where the Secretary of War with other trusted officials is finalising the targets to drop the bombs, Oppenheimer murmurs about keeping the targets soft with broadcasted warnings to avoid unnecessary damage but is swiftly squashed by Groves saying, ‘We’ll drop one to show the magnitude of its destruction and another one to show that we can keep dropping them again and again on our enemies until they relent.’

The most thrilling part of the movie is the scenes involving the Trinity test as the camera glides from one scene to the next while the mood stays sombre until the actual explosion. The effect produced by Nolan for the explosion is a lesson in building suspense. It is amazing. Oppenheimer is celebrated after the project’s success but the subsequent devastation in Japan has a lasting effect on him. Wracked with guilt, Oppenheimer meets President Truman (an unforgettable cameo by Gary Oldman), but he’s thrown out of his office with the President saying, ‘Don’t let this crybaby in hear again’.

The movie continues to travel in time but the attendance of an endless row of the most well-known and talented actors in the business succeeds in keeping the audience on page. While the majority of the movie is told as Oppenheimer’s first-person account, a part of it runs parallel from Lewis Strauss’s perspective (in black and white). Oppenheimer rubbed Strauss the wrong way on more than one occasion. Robert Downey Jr., cast as Strauss, sheds his usual ticks and fast-talking manner to provide an alternate perspective of Oppenheimer. In his account, Oppenheimer is arrogant, mean and an egomaniac. Downey Jr. humanizes Strauss as we see certain moments when he was disrespected by Oppenheimer shown from multiple viewpoints with subtle changes in his behaviour.

When the right time comes to exact revenge, Strauss makes the most of it by taking Oppenheimer’s voice away by cancelling his security clearance which will restrict him from being an educated voice on nuclear arms along with damaging his reputation. As his boozy but loyal wife Katherine, Emily Blunt furiously tries to get Oppenheimer to fight back in the private hearing for the aforementioned purpose, orchestrated by Strauss. Being in the background for most of the movie, Blunt shines when given the centre stage during the hearing.

Strauss undergoes his own Senate confirmation hearing to be appointed as the Secretary of Commerce for the US President where he now has to explain his role in the cancellation of Oppenheimer’s security clearance. Usually in movies, when the protagonist is played louder, the antagonist by design is played softer, but in Oppenheimer, both of them are understated. It’s like they are playing the same side of a coin but in different lighting conditions. Downey Jr.’s transformation is sharp, thanks to Luisa Abel’s fantastic makeup, but the performance behind the face is effectively restrained. Murphy’s transformation is clear as soon as you see images from Oppenheimer’s real life. But the performance is so translucent, that one forgets they are watching the same guy who played Tommy Shelby on Peaky Blinders. On such a large production and a biography of one of the most famous men of the 20th century, one would be tempted to display their talents by playing the scenes bigger. It takes real balls to do what Murphy has done here by presenting a nuanced portrait of a man who is tortured by his thoughts and actions with no one else to blame but himself.

Speaking of bold performances in the movie, one can’t not mention the incredible Florence Pugh in the role of Oppenheimer’s mentally disturbed lover. With her, Oppenheimer is the most vulnerable and their scenes together shed light on him as a regular man, anguished by a failed relationship.

The movie received 13 Oscar nominations (most for 2023) and it will probably end up winning most of the awards. 2023 has been a great year for movies and the finest to come out of the year is Nolan’s Oppenheimer.