‘Oppenheimer’ Is An Ambitious But Emotionally Distant Spectacle

‘Oppenheimer’ Is An Ambitious But Emotionally Distant Spectacle

By Alex McPherson

An immersive cinematic experience that isn’t quite as profound as it thinks it is, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is thrilling and overwhelming.

The film, based on the biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, centers around the titular Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), the infamous, enigmatic, and enterprising physicist who led the secret weapons laboratory of the Manhattan Project in the creation of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The bombs were believed to have ended World War II, but left unimaginable devastation in their wake: they released a monster that threatens to destroy humanity to this day. In typical Nolan fashion, “Oppenheimer” unfolds non-chronologically in dual timelines, spliced together non-sequentially, each playing with color schemes, aspect ratios, and perspectives. 

One, presented in color and labeled “fission,” takes place from Oppenheimer’s perspective and follows a 1954 security hearing in which Oppenheimer’s clearance is being questioned by a kangaroo court of politicians wanting to strip him of power due to his opposition to the H-Bomb program and his past leftist associations.

Flashbacks chart Oppenheimer’s career from an unruly yet “brilliant” student at Cambridge who has fiery, apocalyptic visions to his tenure as a popular professor at Berkeley; his tumultuous romantic life; his eventual recruitment as head of the weapons laboratory of the Manhattan Project, and the Trinity bomb test; and the grim aftermath of the bombs being dropped in Japan.

The other framing device, labeled “fusion,” is presented in black-and-white and focuses on the 1958 confirmation hearings for Commerce Secretary Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), former head of the Atomic Energy Commission and admirer-turned-bitter rival of Oppenheimer. Strauss’s past associations with Oppenheimer are questioned, and viewers observe the systemic and personal motivations that turned Oppenheimer’s country against him.

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer

Nolan’s weaving together of time periods emphasizes a cyclical, pessimistic view of humankind and covers as much thematic ground as possible — far more (for better or worse) than a traditional biopic. In its fatalistic structure forever linking cause and effect, thought and execution, ego and ruin, “Oppenheimer” is ultimately a cautionary tale about invention and heroism, the perilous nature of advancement in pursuit of exceptionalism, the sacrifice of morality for power, and the perilous nature of science (and the public’s reaction to science) when it serves or doesn’t serve them.

Meaningful themes, for sure, but ones most of us have seen played out time and time again in media and our current political hellscape.

Anchored by excellent performances and Nolan’s bombastic, unrelenting direction, “Oppenheimer” is always engaging to watch on a purely technical and sensory level, if lacking the soul that creates a lasting impression. Indeed, the film’s three-hour barrage of information, characters, and stylistic showmanship lessens its intimacy. Nolan’s storytelling is too focused on being ambitious rather than letting us sit and reflect, disappointingly distant when it should be enveloping, rendering “Oppenheimer” more satisfying on an intellectual than emotional level.

Murphy, in his first time headlining a Nolan production, is captivating and mysterious. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema’s camera — capturing the halls of academia, sun-swept Los Alamos, and claustrophobic bureaucratic corridors in crisp detail, involving cinema’s first use of IMAX black-and-white analogue photography, enhanced by sterling production design and costuming — absolutely adores his peculiar facial structure, letting us observe this charismatic, arrogant, naive man become hollowed out by his own brilliance. Murphy is expressive yet measured, reflecting Oppenheimer’s contradictions.

Oppenheimer frequently seems pulled between various extremes, rarely committing himself to one point of view. He’s interested in leftist philosophies without ever fully aligning himself with them, he has difficulty navigating a turbulent love life with his alcoholic wife, Kitty (Emily Blunt, underused yet getting one crowd-pleasing moment near the end), and his troubled mistress, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh, also underused), while being simultaneously drawn towards and petrified by his own genius. Nolan depicts him as neither hero nor villain, but something in between, with Murphy commanding the screen with empathetic, tortured unknowability.

Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss

Downey Jr., able to stretch his actorly wings in a role separated from his usual Tony Stark persona, also excels portraying Strauss, a power-hungry politician willing to throw his peers under the bus to come out on top. While Nolan’s zinger-heavy screenplay paints Strauss rather simplistically compared to Oppenheimer — there isn’t much ambiguity left regarding Strauss’s arc by the end, it’s a persona that, though based in truth, we’ve seen before — Downey Jr. lends power and malevolent dignity nevertheless.

Matt Damon, as Leslie Groves, the Army officer who recruits Oppenheimer to lead the Los Alamos laboratory, provides most of the film’s comedic relief in his plain-spoken, nationalistic differences with Oppenheimer, and the rest of the stacked ensemble — featuring such (perhaps overly) recognizable faces as Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Alden Ehrenreich, Jason Clarke, Casey Affleck, Kenneth Branagh, and Gary Oldman, among dozens of others, including Tom Conti as Albert Einstein — delivers the goods, some only with one or two scenes.

Nolan’s directing is typically strong, of course, with a booming score by Ludwig Göransson that keeps tension taut throughout, and bone-rattling sound design that effectively puts us in Oppenheimer’s fractured headspace. The Trinity bomb-test sequence, as previously mentioned, is almost unbearably suspenseful — the hellish plume of fire folding around itself in silence before surging with ear-shattering noise (thank god for earplugs), while Oppenheimer utters “Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.”

Some expressionistic touches (like Oppenheimer being stripped naked as his interrogators discuss his romantic past) are difficult to take seriously, and dialogue veers heavily between overly expository and Aaron-Sorkin-lite, but “Oppenheimer” still bears the mark of one of cinema’s greatest directors.

It’s unfortunate that Nolan isn’t able to merge these various elements into a truly impactful whole. With so much ground to cover, the film only sometimes pauses to let us sit and reflect with the characters. Jennifer Lame’s precisely propulsive editing zips us along like we’re watching a montage. I can’t help but feel that a more traditional telling of Oppenheimer’s story, taking place entirely from his perspective without jumping timelines and points-of-view, would have a more organic evolution of his dreams and struggles.

As it stands, there’s much to think about, but little that tugs at the heart save for a few brilliantly directed sequences of Oppenheimer’s guilt visualized, the aforementioned bomb-test, and a sobering gut-punch of an ending. Perhaps a rewatch will prove otherwise, but qualms aside, “Oppenheimer” is quite a beast of a film, if one that’s not as effective or groundbreaking as it’s being heralded to be.

Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy

“Oppenheimer” is a 2023 drama-thriller-biography written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh. It is Rated R for some nudity, sexuality and language and runs 3 hours. It opens in theaters on July 21. Alex’s Grade: B+

Note: this review was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Matt Damon is Leslie Groves in OPPENHEIMER, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.

Nolan’s Magnum Opus ‘Oppenheimer’ is Big, Bold And Brilliant

Nolan’s Magnum Opus ‘Oppenheimer’ is Big, Bold And Brilliant

By Lynn Venhaus
One of the best films of the year, “Oppenheimer” is a stunning achievement in sight, sound, story, and scope.

Brilliantly directed and written by Christopher Nolan, his first biopic about the “Father of the Atomic Bomb” is his magnum opus. He not only delivers a fascinating historical drama on the genius theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer’s research and development, but he has crafted it like a big-stakes psychological thriller with many pieces of a puzzle becoming clear over its three-hour runtime.

It was exhilarating to see something this intelligent, lucid, and well-constructed.

Based on the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin, Nolan’s adaptation focuses primarily on the scientist’s rise in the hallowed halls of revered institutions, the U.S. government’s interest in his quantum mechanics work, directing the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II, his role in organizing the Manhattan Project, and the aftermath of building a nuclear weapon.

This erudite character study explains much in its sharp dialogue that didn’t feel heavy or highbrow, and thanks to the actors’ snappy delivery, naturalistic.  Nolan’s verbal dexterity is crucial to this becoming edge-of-your-seat good instead of an academic exercise, and through meticulous detail, infuses a compelling biography with big-picture questions.

Nolan has created some of the best films of the 21st century since “Memento” in 2000, and is known for his cerebral storytelling, nonlinear style, and visual mastery.

Oscar-nominated five times for picture and director for “Dunkirk,” picture and screenplay for “Inception” and screenplay for “Memento,” his films have won mostly technical awards. He has thrilled with his Batman trilogy, impressed with “The Prestige,” and confounded with “Tenet” and “Interstellar,” gaining a fervent fan base.

Even those not as enamored will begrudgingly admit to admiring his commitment to big, bold cinematic grandeur, rarely relying on digital effects. (For instance, no computer-generated graphics in “The Dark Knight.”)

While weaving a grand-scale intricate narrative that flashes back and forward across decades, Nolan creates tension that leads to the “Trinity” code-name bomb-testing that’s one of the most astonishing sequences ever captured on film as he manipulates sight and sound for the Big Bang.

After the bomb is used and the government takes it over from there, the film raises issues about actions causing reactions, scientific advancement, and government responsibility as Oppenheimer is swept into the maelstrom of moral, ethical, and political debates unleashed after the bomb’s use to end World War II.

The story is framed with an unsettling hearing in 1954, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, which stripped Oppenheimer of his security clearance, a kangaroo court depicting the post-war Red Scare paranoia. With his leftist leanings, connections to people that were avowed (past) Communists, and fretting over nuclear proliferation, he was accused of being a Soviet spy and became an unfortunate scapegoat.

Nolan uses this backroom thrashing as a look back, intertwining science with politics by effectively alternating color and black-and-white film. It’s a master storyteller at the peak of his craft.

A key element is a mega-cast that features everyone giving their all, creating authentic portraits of people that played a part in history, from Alden Ehrenreich depicting a Senate aide to British actor Tom Conti unrecognizable as Albert Einstein and Gary Oldman’s sly work as President Harry S Truman in one scene.

A longtime fan of Cillian Murphy, I’m happy to see the Irish actor finally taking center stage in a part that seems tailor-made for him, and he’s on screen nearly the entire time. It’s such a virtuoso lived-in portrait, his career best, and he superbly unfolds multiple layers – showing many facets of Oppenheimer’s personality.

Murphy’s most well-known work is as crime boss Tommy Shelby in the Netflix series “Peaky Blinders” (2013-2022), which is about a gangster family in 1900s England. In 2002, he broke through in the Danny Boyle sci-fi masterpiece “28 Days Later,” and has been featured in six Nolan films, starting with “Batman Begins” in 2005 as DC Comics’ villain Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow.

As the two complicated women in his life, Emily Blunt is bulldog-like in her support, portraying his alcoholic biologist wife Kitty, unapologetic as a stressed-out mom, and Florence Pugh is troubled longtime girlfriend, psychiatrist Jean Tatlock.

Robert Downey Jr. stands out in a shrewd performance as Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and ambitious political climber, and Matt Damon is strong as General Leslie Groves Jr., director of the Manhattan Project.

Josh Hartnett, who fell off mainstream movie radar, roars back as pioneering American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence, who worked with Oppenheimer at University of California-Berkeley, and Benny Safdie is once again surprising as theoretical physicist Edward Teller, who disagreed with Oppie on the hydrogen bomb.

A litany of recognizable actors portraying either scientists, military brass or support staff includes Casey Affleck, Kenneth Branagh, Jason Clarke, Dane DeHaan, Tony Goldwyn, David Krumholtz, Rami Malek, Matthew Modine, and Alex Wolff.

You might also be familiar with Dylan Arnold, who plays Robert’s brother Frank Oppenheimer, Michael Angarano as good friend-physicist Robert Serber, David Dastmalchian as William Borden, who filed a complaint with the FBI, Gregory Jbara as Senate Chairman Magnuson, and Macon Blair as Oppenheimer’s defense attorney Lloyd Garrison.

This film leaps to being either a frontrunner or contender in many awards categories, figuring into the year-end conversations. It will be in mine – considerations for film, director, adapted screenplay, lead actor, supporting actor (Downey), supporting actress (Blunt), cinematography, editing, music score, visual effects, production design, costumes, hair and makeup, and sound nominations.

Nolan’s go-to cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oscar nominee for “Dunkirk” and showing his keen eye in “Nope,” reaches new heights here, groundbreaking actually. He shot the film partially in black-and-white, and in doing so, made history. In a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film photography it includes, for the first time ever, sections in IMAX black and white analogue photography.

L to R: Matt Damon is Leslie Groves and Cillian Murphy is J. Robert Oppenheimer in OPPENHEIMER, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.

So that the sections of the movie could be shot in the same quality as the rest of the film, Kodak developed the first ever black and white film stock for IMAX.

Composer Ludwig Goransson, who won an Oscar for his “Black Panther” score, distinctively guides the tone and the tempo with savvy music choices.

The artisan work is exceptional – especially Jennifer Lame’s decisive editing, and the sound editing and mixing technicians’ advanced capabilities (Richard King, Michael W. Mitchell, Kevin O’Connell, Gary A. Rizzo leading the way.)

Luisa Abel’s expert makeup and prosthetic department’s aging visages appear realistic, and costume designer Ellen Mirojnick’s looks for tweedy academia, active soldiers, swanky party guests and ‘40s housewives are spot-on, factoring in desert, Northern California, and New England climates.

Ruth De Jong’s production design spans decades and locations with accurate retro recreations, as Nolan moves from ‘20s grad school in Germany to ‘30s UC-Berkeley classrooms, to ‘40s Princeton, deserts and mountains, wartime New Mexico and McCarthy-era Washington D.C.

“Oppenheimer” harkens back to those mammoth blockbusters of old, those sweeping epics filmed by David Lean that captured our fancy. It is rare to see a movie of this magnitude be this satisfying, but it is nuanced filmmaking at its finest. Go see this big-brained movie on the biggest screen possible.

“Oppenheimer” is a 2023 drama-thriller-biography written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh. It is Rated R for some nudity, sexuality and language and runs 3 hours. It opens in theaters on July 21. Lynn’s Grade: A.

Note: this review was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Despite Flaws, ‘Crisis’ Is an Informative Multi-Faceted Look at America’s Drug Problem

Despite Flaws, ‘Crisis’ Is an Informative Multi-Faceted Look at America’s Drug Problem

By Alex McPherson
Writer-director Nicholas Jarecki’s third feature directorial effort, “Crisis,” provides an ambitious and gritty look at America’s opioid epidemic.

Jarecki’s film centers around three individuals experiencing the issue from wildly different angles. Dr. Tyrone Brower (Gary Oldman) is a biochemist and university professor testing a new “non-addictive” painkiller developed by Northlight, a large pharmaceutical company.

After running experiments on lab rats, Brower finds that the drug is, in fact, dangerously addictive. Unsurprisingly, both the company and Brower’s university aren’t too pleased with this conclusion. Northlight officials offer Brower’s university a large grant in exchange for falsifying the data — paving the way for its FDA approval. Brower becomes a whistleblower, and he must deal with the repercussions for both his personal and professional life.

Viewers also meet Jake Kelly (Armie Hammer, undergoing his own career in crisis), a law enforcement agent working undercover amidst Armenian and Canadian drug traffickers, the latter of whom is led by a burly sap named Mother (Guy Nadon). Kelly also cares for his unstable, drug-addicted sister, Emmie (Lily Rose-Depp). Pressured to make arrests by his newly hired supervisor, Garrett (Michelle Rodriguez), Kelly and his work partner, Stanley Foster (Jarecki), attempt to set up a sting operation by bringing the two rival groups together. Suffice it to say, complications arise, and the bodies start piling up.

But wait, there’s more! The film follows architect and former addict Claire Reimann (Evangeline Lilly), who seeks revenge after her teenage son, David (Billy Bryk), is suddenly found dead in broad daylight, after having died from an apparent drug overdose. Reimann soon uncovers a deeper, more sinister plot. She desperately seeks answers as her world crumbles around her.

Whew, and all that unfolds in a two-hour film?! Yes, dear reader, “Crisis” provides a lot to chew on, to say the least. Even though the film’s emotional impact is undermined by a jack-of-all-trades approach, these stories, inspired from true events, still hold a certain power. 

Indeed, I appreciate the topics covered — showing how ordinary people become enveloped in an epidemic pervaded by violence and the preying of those less fortunate. Even though the film’s condemnation of corporate greed and the ways addiction destroys lives isn’t anything particularly new, this is still essential information, packaged into an accessible (though at times bland) thriller/modern noir hybrid.

As the film alternates between these three characters, “Crisis” effectively puts a human face on the suffering inflicted by profiteers on the general population. Reimann stands out in particular. She’s wracked with grief and driven by a fierce, self-destructive determination. We really feel for her, and Lilly’s performance, uncompromising and vivid, stands out from the rest.

Brower’s plotline involves a lot of sitting and talking, but remains compelling throughout. Of course, the shadiness of some pharmaceutical companies has long been clear, and it’s impossible for a single man to stand up to them. It’s easy to see the trajectory of Brower’s story, but the film provides several moments of righteous indignation, where Oldman (always an endearing actor) raises his voice and argues for truth over lies.

That brings us to Kelly. Although Hammer’s portrayal is a bit muted at times, his underlying rage is apparent. It’s a shame, then, that “Crisis” doesn’t let us spend more time with him and his sister outside of his undercover operations. The scenarios he finds himself in feel similar to practically every other crime film I’ve seen. 

What results is a film painted with broad strokes rather than a more focused exploration of any particular character. These stories would have benefited from a television-style format, where specific episodes are devoted to specific characters. Bouncing back and forth between them, “Crisis” doesn’t leave much time for reflection. Add to that a Hollywoodized finale that breaks from reality and ties some characters’ arcs up into a neat bow, and we have a film that ultimately underwhelms.

Similarly, Jarecki’s filmmaking techniques are competent, but they lack flair or a distinctive style — clean and precise without remaining particularly memorable.

All this aside, “Crisis” is still highly watchable, and at times quite suspenseful. It’s a shame that recent revelations about Hammer will likely deter many viewers from watching it, as there’s much to enjoy, especially in regard to Reimann’s journey and Lilly’s heart-wrenching performance.

“Crisis” remains a solid recommendation, despite its overstuffed nature, and tackles subject matter that shouldn’t fade from public consciousness.

“Crisis” is a drama written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki, starring Gary Oldman, Evangeline Lilly, Armie Hammer, Lily-Rose Depp, BIlly Bryk and Greg Kinnear. Rated R for drug content, violence, and language throughout, the run time is 1 hour, 58 minutes. It will be released in theaters Feb. 26 and on video on demand March 5. Alex’s Rating: B

‘Mank’ Technically Brilliant, Dense Story

‘Mank’ Technically Brilliant, Dense Story

By Lynn Venhaus
An unflinching look at the old studio system during the height of Hollywood’s Dream Factory persona, “Mank” is more than a backstory on “Citizen Kane,” pulling back the curtain on some unsavory wheeling-and-dealings of the era.

“Mank” follows screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz’s tumultuous development of Orson Welles’ iconic masterpiece in 1941, with flashbacks to old Hollywood in the 1930s, including labor disputes, politics and the studio tycoons.

Director David Fincher, known for his obsessive control, has carefully crafted a portrait of the complicated screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, who died of alcoholism at age 55 in 1953. Mank, a newspaperman from New York, was one of the well-known Algonquin Round Table writers who migrated to Hollywood. He joined such luminaries as playwright George S. Kaufman, humorist S.J. Perlman and Ben Hecht as screenwriters under contract.

 While recovering from a broken leg, Mank is set up at a dusty, desolate ranch in Victorville, Calif., to write the screenplay with a 60-day deadline, free of distractions and surrounded by secrecy. 

John Houseman, who is part of Orson Welles’ fabled Mercury Players, has been assigned to watch over him. Houseman, who really won Best Supporting Actor for “The Paper Chase” in 1974, didn’t seem to be particularly fussy, but Sam Troughton plays him that way. Wunderkind Welles (Tom Burke) will tussle with Mank, but it is their crowning achievement.  

While best known for winning an Oscar for the screenplay of “Citizen Kane,’ which he reluctantly shared with Orson Welles – and was the only winner out of nine nominations, Mank also wrote “Dinner at Eight” and “The Pride of the Yankees,” among dozens of titles, and produced such Marx Brothers movies as “Duck Soup.”

The man himself was a prickly personality, an uncompromising writer with a sardonic wit and a wicked pen, disgruntled by the studio system and the guys who ran them. He did not suffer fools and was wary of those in power. Heavy drinking and gambling had sullied his reputation, but no one could deny his talent.

The cast is one of the finest assembled this year, helmed by Gary Oldman as the bruising wordsmith. It’s a towering portrayal—would we expect anything less from the Oscar winner? Oldman has affected an old-timey delivery for his epic battles with just about everyone but his long-suffering wife, dubbed “Poor Sara” (nicely portrayed by Tuppence Middleton).

The multi-layered story focuses on the ruthless movers-and-shakers – including a terrific Arliss Howard as cunning Louis B. Mayer at M-G-M and a steely Charles Dance as shrewd newspaper publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst.

At his castle in San Simeon, Hearst threw lavish dinner parties attended by the show business elite. One of his favorite guests, no matter how drunk or boorish he got, was Mank. The outspoken screenwriter was pals with Hearst’s mistress, actress Marion Davies, who is played by Amanda Seyfried in her best performance to date.

Other noteworthy performances include Ferdinand Kingsley as producer Irving Thalberg, Lily Collins as stenographer Rita Alexander, Jamie McShane as Shelly Metcalf and Ozark’s Tom Pelphrey as Joseph Mankiewicz, Herman’s brother who was also in the business (and wrote “All About Eve.”)

The score by Fincher’s go-to duo of Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor captures the period jazz and Big Band, and

While the meticulous production values are stunning, with its luxe black-and-white cinematography by Erik Messerschmidt, glamorous costume design by Trish Summerville and the grand production design by Donald Graham Burt, the dense plot of “Mank” is likely to keep some moviegoers at a distance. 

As it sprawls beyond the studio gates, the filmd takes detours into the 1934 gubernatorial race in California and industry politics, convoluting an already verbose narrative.

If you are not familiar with the backstory about the making of “Citizen Kane” or the real people on whose lives the characters are based, this may be a problem in digesting “Mank,” a very inside look at Hollywood as an industry who aimed at a market devastated by the Depression.

The director ‘s late father, Jack Fincher, who died in 2003, wrote this screenplay in the 1990s, for the film originally was supposed to be made after “The Game” in 1997. Rumor has it that Eli Roth did some polishing, but whether that’s true, the original script must have had to be reworked at some point.

One thing is certain, Hollywood loves to make movies about the making of movies. Fincher’s lens creates a bigger picture while concentrating on a few key players.

Fascinating, infuriating and rich with details, “Mank” the film is like Mank the person – hard to pin down but worth the time.

“Mank” is a biography-drama directed by David Fincher and starring Gary Oldman, Charles Dance, Arliss Howard, Amanda Seyfried, Tuppence Middleton, Lily Collins and Tom Pelphrey. Rated R for language, “Mank” is 2 hours and 11 minutes’ long. Lynn’s Grade: B-