Oppenheimer: Albert? When I came to you with those calculations, we thought we might start a chain reaction that would destroy the entire world…
Einstein: I remember it well. What of it?
Oppenheimer: I believe we did.
That is a long, dense film.
It’s complicated and there are long stretches with little going on by talking and setting. But… man, is it thematic talking and setting?
It’s all about the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so called ‘father of the atomic bomb’ and… well, how he earned that title. I knew bits and pieces of the story, but having watched this, bits and pieces were apparently all I knew. It’s kind of amazing how many of the names I recognize from physics classes were involved in either the project or Oppenheimer’s life.
It was at times difficult to follow, there are a ton of jumps (mostly stylistically) and it makes me wander just how much of that was actually problems in Oppenheimer’s mind and how much was style. That’s not really clear, even by the end of the movie. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised though if he was having issues like that.
Einstein: When they’ve punished you enough, they’ll serve you salmon and potato salad, make speeches, give you a medal, and pat you in the back telling all is forgiven. Just remember, it won’t be for you… it would be for them.
I think the cast was another impressive part of this film. I couldn’t speak to just how perfectly accurate it was, but I think Cillian Murphy was an excellent casting for Oppenheimer. He’s got just the right amount of strange charisma to really pull you into the film.
Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr. were solid roles, enough to actually remind me why they’re considered solid actors–and not just playing themselves as some do. Alden Ehrenreich I thought looked familiar, but had to look up where I’d seen him recently (Solo and Beautiful Creatures (that’s been a while)). There are just a bunch of people I’ve seen in other things before…
Overall, quite the solid movie. I think I learned something and enjoyed the process of doing something, which is something always worth saying. It’s long, but I think it’s worth a watch!
(Personally, I don’t think there’s any reason to Barbenheimer it though, although it is amusing.)
Last note:
Oppenheimer: Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.
The first time he says it… was surprising and kind of weird. I expect they were going with ’everyone is waiting for him to say the line… psyche!’ I’ll just leave it at that.
A year and a half late, but better than never, right? ↩︎