Oppenheimer

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, a likely saying as we watch the breakdown of J. Robert Oppenheimer through the biopic provided by Christopher Nolan.

A common dilema, the duality of what man sets out to be perceived as versus what the world perceives of him and his time here, a tale as old as the dirt we walk on. Oppenheimer is more than waiting to see Nolan’s Non-CGI atomic bomb, but more so watching the rise and fall of J. Robert Oppenheimer, as his mission to save the world by the scientific display of what mass destruction can truly be becomes the hellish threat most world powers carry today, an atomic bomb.

The image of Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer is clear in my head, his face bleak and full of despair as the idea rots in his mind being responsible for so much damage to the world.

Oppenheimer bravely embarks not only through the life of the theoretical physicist and the Manhattan project, but cleverly depicts the events and people throughout history making this a fantastic biopic. The all star line up is surprising as you dwell into the world of atoms and how they make up everything around us. A unit so small erupted the fascination behind the atomic bomb, and its creation needed support from areas one doesn’t usually go to, which created tension. The ongoing tension throughout the film mixed with the soul lingering scores from Ludwig Goresson truly kept the audience enthralled during the 3 hours of the movie. While many may complain 3 hours is a long time, so is waiting in line at the DMV, get over it.

The film itself is educating as we walk through the scientific problems scientist faced approaching the completion of the Manhattan project. The small conversations between Oppenheimer and Einstein were true treats to the scientific lovers. Witnessing various security clearances and measures taken to verify that this project remained top secret, such as building a town far away from society with only the top scientist and military to aid in this situation. It’s almost as if we’re in on the secret and watching the progression of an idea that seemed so far fetched at the time. Being that this era was during the war, we had no time to not be first with discoveries and inventions that can turn the fate of the war.

Einstein and Oppenheimer (1947)

From the actors standpoint, this is a good role that Robert Downey Jr. accepted, outside his norm of comedic roles and his famous one as Ironman. We really got to see Downey in an emotional state as the stress builds throughout the film for his character. Emily Blunt played a strong character as usual but this time where the actions and facial expressions said more than the character ever could. Matt Damon was incredible as a support character as so was Rami Malik, Florence Pugh, and Benny Safdie. And for those who heard Rumors, yes, the one and only, Josh Peck, is also one of the many scientist in this movie who helped with the spherical bomb, take that Drake.

Christoper Nolan unleashed his classic plot twist in this biopic which was an expected unexpected, but still surprising. Nolan has found ways to become better and better at story telling as we find Oppenheimer, his 12th film, to be another element of his signature medium, time and how it encapsulates us within the story. The build up to the explosion and the explosion itself left the theatre in pure silence, and the treat of watching this film in a local Queens, NYC theatre means that the train underneath the theater ran by at the perfect time to make it all seem even more realistic. That was the real gift to the film lovers that evening.

This film was damn near perfect and worth every minute. The constant scenes in black and white defining the past from the present along with the scientific scenes of atoms in motion gave us true feels to the events depicted throughout the film. I’d be surprised if Oppenheimer isn’t awarded come the time to recognize great films. This movie easily gets a 9.8/10, I’m thankful for seeing this movie because I’ve missed this feeling dearly of what true cinema can mean to the heart.

I can’t help but to mention again, when we see the classic Nolan face shot in a moment of despair or self-treason, that zoom in shot is so crucial to the emotion. We didn’t only witness the birth of the Atomic bomb, but also paradise lost.

You’re doing yourself a disservice not seeing this piece of American history that changed the course of the world.