I’ve long been a devotee of studying history and the era which has held me greatest interest has always been World War II. However that primarily meant I would read about the battles, or the leaders from Roosevelt to Truman to Churchill, as I went down rabbit holes of books, films, and podcasts. Despite even visiting and living near Oak Ridge, TN, home of the Manhattan Project, I knew little about Oppenheimer going into the film bearing his name. Knowing I was going into an epic 3-hour long film, that threw us in the middle of a trial(?) which prompted my friend beside me to ask “what’s going on?”, I knew by the end we’d know perhaps more than we ever wanted to know about Oppenheimer. Fortunately though this is still likely true, despite my misgivings I was pleasently surprised that largely Nolan was able to tell us the story he wanted to present of Oppenheimer, and the nuclear tests, while keeping me largely engaged and intrigued throughout.

Oppenheimer begins with our titular character as a student who is thristy for knowledge. Discoveries are being made in the world of physics and quantum physics, in particular after Einstein’s breakthroughs, and he wants to study from the best. Fortunately he does but a war then seperates many of these scientists off into their respective nationalist corners, and Oppenheimer now a large figure, if not a controversial one for his left-leaning beliefs, steps in to lead the American team developing the first nuclear bomb. Nolan tells us this story while also juxtaposing it with the after effects of the bomb, which shows Oppenheimer as increasingly skeptical of what he helped wrought. Nolan also shows that now Oppenheimer, never a charmer, has made an enemy himself in Lewis Strauss, a former colleague with a grudge against the seemingly haughty scientist.

Nolan’s throughline is the man himself, played deftly by Cillian Murphy. Murphy’s is more a show of restraint as Oppenheimer is presented as a largely emotionless, yet driven man. Even in Murphy’s relationships there’s little to glean of love, care, or passion (which yes, for this reviewer does make these sex scenes with Pugh incredibly pointless, as it was very clear where his focus was not). Only when wrestling with science does Murphy’s Oppenheimer show life, and he shows it most of all when trying to comprehend what he wrought. Murphy is joined by a surprisignly famous cast which includes the ones on the poster, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Florench Pugh, but it also features Matt Damon, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek, among many others. Though not all of the actors blend into the roles as one might like, RDJ is indeed a high-point, even if those sequences lack enough context to have any emotional heft.

Overall the story of the development of the bomb is the most engaging part of the film, especially seeing how Oppenheimer has to work alongside Damon’s Lt. Gen Leslie Groves to build a secret city, bring together the greatest scientists in the world, and to develop a bomb before the Nazis do. I’ve always loved a process film, such as All the President’s Men, and this was heavy in process. I could see folks disengaging with this part, but that’s perhaps why Nolan interspersed the story of Oppenheimer’s “downfall” as well.

Now pivoting to the aftermath this is actually the part I was most excited about upon seeing the trailer, as I felt surely I knew less about this than I did about the WWII years. (I learned a lot really throughout, but indeed I knew nothing of Oppenheimer’s later life.) Regretfully I don’t feel that Nolan setup the stakes to really warrant the drama he’s hoping we feel as Strauss enters the picture. Instead it’s never clear what impact Oppenheimer’s security clearance has for his life, and it’s certainly not clear if we should have cared for Strauss’s journey and his motivations as we are shown so little of his life? Ultimately the last half hour of the film dragged as we come to a conclusion that was quite obvious from the jump.

What has been touched on significantly thus far, as this is certainly a late review, is how Nolan decided to portray or not portray the devastation in Japan and on the Japanese people by the bombs. I’d been led to believe going into the film that no portrayal was ever shown since I knew he didn’t try to replicate the blast in Japan; however, that’s not quite 100% true. While it’s a bit surreal, as Nolan uses the same dreamscape he last used to have Pugh naked with Murphy in a conference room full of men and Oppenheimer’s wife (again, not nessecary), it did at least add some weight and consideration to the devastation. While its certainly hard to know from my limited knowledge aside from Oppenheimer’s famous use of the sanksrit verse his thoughts on the bomb, Nolan seems to really want to consider Oppenheimer as highly contemplative and concerned by his actions.

Ultimately though I’d argue Nolan did deliver an engaging and educational film, though perhaps a flawed film that is a bit overwritten. While I enjoyed the performances, less could be more as Nolan wanted to have it both ways by focusing on a slice of Oppenheimer’s life, but also by trying to make that a broad slice. Overall though I think it was certainly a strong film for 2023, and though I’m not sure if I’d pick it as my Best Picture frontrunner, I won’t be surprised if the Academy makes that choice.