Film Review: "Oppenheimer" (2023).

"The world forever changes" in Oppenheimer. This biographical thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and based on the 2005 book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin The movie tells the story of "the father of the atomic bomb," J. Robert Oppenheimer, whose work at the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory led to the invention of the first nuclear weapons during World War II.

In September 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Nolan would pen and direct a biographical film about J. Robert Oppenheimer, creator of the atomic bomb, with Cillian Murphy set to star in the title role, marking their sixth collaboration after Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Dunkirk (2017). Nolan approached multiple studios for the project, including Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Apple Studios due to his strained relationship with Warner Bros because of the studio's decision to give its 2021 films simultaneous releases in theaters and on HBO Max due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to insiders, Paramount was out of the selection early on in the wake of the replacement of CEO and Chairman Jim Gianopulos with Brian Robbins, an advocate for increased streaming service releases. In mid September, it was confirmed that Universal would finance and distribute the film, with production set to begin in the first quarter of 2022. Some of Nolan's demands included a production budget of $100 million and an equal marketing budget, a theatrical window of at least one-hundred days, twenty percent of the film's first-dollar gross, and a three-week period before and after the film's release in which Universal could not release another new film. By January 2022, pre-production was underway in New Mexico, where a two-day casting call took place in Santa Fe and Los Alamos for people to audition to play local residents, military personnel and scientists. In February, another casting call was held. By late February, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie, Dylan Arnold, Gustaf Skarsgård, Matthew Modine, David Dastmalchian, Tom Conti, Michael Angarano, Jack Quaid, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby, Dane DeHaan, Alden Ehrenreich, Jefferson Hall, Jason Clarke, James D'Arcy, Tony Goldwyn, Alex Wolff, Scott Grimes, Matthias Schweighöfer, Emma Dumont, and Gary Oldman rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, with a budget of $100 million, principal photography commenced and wrapped in May. Filming took place throughout California, New Jersey, and New Mexico, USA. The film used a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film, marking Nolan's sixth film to be shot on the format following The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk and Tenet (2020). In order for the black & white sections of the movie to be shot in the same quality as the rest of the film, Kodak developed the first ever black & white IMAX film stock. Real explosives were used to recreate the Trinity nuclear test, forgoing the use of computer generated graphics. While using miniatures for the practical effect, the movie's special effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher referred to them as "big-atures", as the team tried to make the models as large as possible. A whole 1940s-style town was also built from scratch. Because Nolan wanted to make the movie as subjective as possible, telling everything from Oppenheimer’s point of view, they had to come up with a way to visualize his ideas and thoughts about the way he was imagining the quantum world and waves of energy. The visual effects were provided by DNEG, marking their eighth collaboration with Nolan, with Andrew Jackson as visual effects supervisor. In October 2021, Ludwig Göransson was revealed to be composing the score for the film, marking his econd and consecutive collaboration with Nolan, right after Tenet (2020), as frequent Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer wasn't available since he was committed with the scores of Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2023).

The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Murphy, Blunt, Damon, Downey Jr., Pugh, Hartnett, Affleck, Malek, Branagh, Safdie, Arnold, Skarsgård, Modine, Dastmalchian, Conti, Angarano, Quaid, Peck, Thirlby, DeHaan, Ehrenreich, Hall, Clarke, D'Arcy, Goldwyn, Wolff, Grimes, Schweighöfer, Dumont, and Oldman. Thanks to the performances by its stellar ensemble, the film stands on its own as a biopic, but it also works as a profound tragedy, stunning in its portrayal of a man teetering on the edge, though he doesn't even know it. Murphy dominates the picture through his tour-de-force performance. Murphy's central performance is as compelling as the film's premise and Nolan's execution of it. In Murphy's hands, Oppenheimer is a modern Prometheus destined to be tortured for all eternity.

Directed by Nolan, based on Bird and Sherwin's 2005 biography, this is an intellectual exercise that's unlike anything you've seen lately. Nolan's winding timelines and practical effects are marvels to behold, but they seldom compare to the slow push-in on Oppenheimer's face, as brief but powerful bursts of memory envelop the screen. This terrific movie, about one man's journey of tragedy, does everything a biopic is supposed to do: intrigue, involve and keep you empathising. An unnerving, but deeply penetrating experience that elevates what could have been a routine biopic into a meditation on the slippery nature of the hubris of mankind. The film doesn't just draw you into a dramatic story, it also makes you aware of a human story. And that's food for thought and entertainment. Equally absorbing are its themes of scientific hubris and regret in a playground of complex politics. A superb Cillian Murphy as the sensitive, conflicted genius was a revelatory match for Nolan's technical talent. You may not be able to pinpoint with words how it all comes together, but the horror and power of Nolan’s imagery and impressionistic approach to filmmaking convey another ponderous picture, the director’s most abstract yet exacting work yet.

Simon says: Oppenheimer receives:

Also, see my review for Tenet.