He was deemed "The Father of the Atomic Bomb"-a man whose core studies on the nature of the universe and the atom itself led to the development of the ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction; and in his life, he was accused of being a Communist, particularly after his invention (or two of them) atomized Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was J. Robert Oppenheimer (or "Oppie" to his "fans" in the world), But while his story is fairly well known to anyone who has studied the history of America from World War II through to the Cold War, it took British director Christopher Nolan to truly bring his epic story to the big screen, which he has done so with OPPENHEIMER.
Adapted to the screen by Nolan from the book "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, OPPENHEIMER stars Cilia Murphy as the legendary and (frequently) legendarily controversial scientist whose studies in quantum physics unlock the great secret of the creation of the universe, but which, in the 1930's, were put to use for a much more disturbing purpose. In order to keep this disturbing purpose totally under wraps, Oppenheimer devised the entire building of a small town in New Mexico called Los Alamos. But both his advocacy for unions inside the professions of professors, teachers, and scientists and his loose associations with people who may have (suspected) ties to the Communist Party make him the subject of scrutiny by the U. S. government, particularly the FBI (very much under the control of J. Edgar Hoover). He nevertheless gets support in the development of The Bomb from legendary General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon), Albert Einstein (Tom Conti), and fellow nuclear physicist Edward Teller (Benny Sadie) and the great Danish scientist Niels Bohr (Sir Kenneth Branagh). Overall, this makes OPPENHEIMER very much a political drama and an historical drama all in one, with Murphy's performance giving us insight into the psychology and psyche of this great and, in many ways, troubled American genius, and also a look at how America, from the 1940's onward, seemed hell bent on containing the evils of Communism with a nuclear weapons program that, if ever used for real, would wipe out every living thing on Earth.
Nolan, known for such great films as 2009's INCEPTION, 2014's INTERSTELLAR, and 2017's DUNKIRK, may have made an incredibly long film out of his subject, with a running time of three hours, but he certainly makes the most of it, particularly in the intense and frightening countdown to the device's test detonation in the New Mexico desert in July 1945. Emily Blunt is quite good as Oppenheimer's wife Kitty; and the supporting turns from Damon, Conti, and Branagh are top-notch all the way. And finally, Murphy's portrayal of Oppenheimer is a portrayal clearly worthy of being awarded, particularly a very likely nomination for Best Actor at the Oscars.
Clearly, this is a masterpiece, and worthy of a '10' rating.
Adapted to the screen by Nolan from the book "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, OPPENHEIMER stars Cilia Murphy as the legendary and (frequently) legendarily controversial scientist whose studies in quantum physics unlock the great secret of the creation of the universe, but which, in the 1930's, were put to use for a much more disturbing purpose. In order to keep this disturbing purpose totally under wraps, Oppenheimer devised the entire building of a small town in New Mexico called Los Alamos. But both his advocacy for unions inside the professions of professors, teachers, and scientists and his loose associations with people who may have (suspected) ties to the Communist Party make him the subject of scrutiny by the U. S. government, particularly the FBI (very much under the control of J. Edgar Hoover). He nevertheless gets support in the development of The Bomb from legendary General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon), Albert Einstein (Tom Conti), and fellow nuclear physicist Edward Teller (Benny Sadie) and the great Danish scientist Niels Bohr (Sir Kenneth Branagh). Overall, this makes OPPENHEIMER very much a political drama and an historical drama all in one, with Murphy's performance giving us insight into the psychology and psyche of this great and, in many ways, troubled American genius, and also a look at how America, from the 1940's onward, seemed hell bent on containing the evils of Communism with a nuclear weapons program that, if ever used for real, would wipe out every living thing on Earth.
Nolan, known for such great films as 2009's INCEPTION, 2014's INTERSTELLAR, and 2017's DUNKIRK, may have made an incredibly long film out of his subject, with a running time of three hours, but he certainly makes the most of it, particularly in the intense and frightening countdown to the device's test detonation in the New Mexico desert in July 1945. Emily Blunt is quite good as Oppenheimer's wife Kitty; and the supporting turns from Damon, Conti, and Branagh are top-notch all the way. And finally, Murphy's portrayal of Oppenheimer is a portrayal clearly worthy of being awarded, particularly a very likely nomination for Best Actor at the Oscars.
Clearly, this is a masterpiece, and worthy of a '10' rating.