A geek’s review of Oppenheimer: The slow burn that eclipses the biggest bang

There’s an expectation attached with going to a theatre to watch a Christopher Nolan film. One could say the same with others too, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and the Barbieheimer marketing behemoth are concurrent proof, and there are several more filmmakers for whom expectational whataboutery is possible. But from the standpoint of being ambitious, Nolan is in a league of his own.

With Oppenheimer, he delves into perhaps the defining story of the 21st century and the sum total of four hundred years of scientific advancement. It’s both period piece and biopic, rooted and grounded in reality and yet with the potential for cataclysm never far off. Think, the flip side of Dunkirk, in terms of the subject matter’s significance to the outcome of World War 2. Could another be forthcoming? A trilogy rounded off with the disastrous German invasion of Russia and the battle of Stalingrad perhaps? Maybe a tantalising question for another day.

In the here and now - The father of the atomic bomb makes for a compelling study. Julius Robert Oppenheimer stood at the intersection of science, ideology, academia, invention, administration, philosophy, McCarthyism, invention, politics. And the cast of characters swirling around him is as close as it’s possible, across professions, to define the idiom ‘a galaxy of stars’. For every Matt Damon, there’s an Enrico Fermi, and for each Rami Malek, there’s a Werner Heisenberg. 

(The moment when Oppenheimer says that the possibility of the first atomic bomb destroying the world is near-zero)

The film straddles eras in terms of capturing a changing world. From what used to be the free exchange of ideas and scientific thought by a compelling cast of boisterous new physics scientists, to the weaponisation of science and its official transition into state secrets. Legends walk this earth, and the Easter eggs have the potential for great reward. This author, for instance, writes with the smugness of having guesstimated Nolan’s teases for the likes of Einstein, Los Alamos, JFK, and spotting Richard Feynman on the Bongo drums!

Harder to guess is what the movie is actually about - also a Nolan trademark. Is it about mindbending science? Think, Interstellar, but only in 4 dimensions. Is it a psychological thriller like Memento or The Dark Knight? Or is it plain high-concept fiction like Inception or the video game that was Tenet? Turns out, this time, the film is about a plot - a conspiracy surrounding ego and guilt, all weaved around one of humanity’s best-chronicled achievements.

For sure there are demons in the protagonist’s head, and this is brought out best in Cilian Murphy’s more inert moments, like when he shakes hands with people who claim he’s a Commie spy or when he remains unmoved and contemplative when his wife, played by Emily Blunt, asks him repeatedly why he doesn’t fight back against those who are systematically trying to discredit him and worse. Less impressive are the highly overdone ‘mindblasting’ sequences when Oppenheimer’s complexities and internal dilemmas go cosmic - akin to a mix between an epileptic seizure and LSD-inspired synthesesia. 

(Robert Downey Jr. plays Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer) 

The odd transitional fleeting exchanges do leave a mark - a scene with a Cyanide laced apple in the hands of Niels Bohr has Black Mirror potential, as does the fact that Gilderoy Lockhart is now spouting quantum theory. Gary Oldman transitioning from Churchill to Truman and retaining the ability to mutter under his breath is another delight. Casey Affleck’s brief appearance is another work of art, with the lore and menacing subtext combining to elevate his character in the way Marlon Brando had done in Apocalypse Now.

The science in the film isn’t the proverbial rocket science, it’s more a prop. And props are also used to describe it - marbles for enriched Uranium and Plutonium filling up jars as the bomb nears completion. The Trinity test is the hurrah moment, filling in for what many thought would be a centerpiece of the film - the actual dropping of Fat Man and Little Boy on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

While the first act sets up Oppenheimer and the second sees him and Matt Damon’s hard-as-knuckles US Army General characters setting up Los Alamos, the business end of the film revolves around Robert Downey Jr and Jason Clarke. Clarke is made to be dislikeable and his cross-questioning of scientists of global repute and war heroes is the kind of ball and chain work that makes you want to root for Oppie, who only has the blood of 200,000 people on his hands at this point.

Christopher Nolan recently called Robert Downey Jr’s casting as Iron Man in the Marvel movies was one of the best in history. This is the man who gave us the Batman trilogy speaking about the guy who set the tone for the Avengers films. Both are distinct, both clearly bring something more to a film than your regular director and actor. In Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr brings the film it’s ‘Prestige’.

“Because making something disappear isn't enough, you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige"." -- Michael Caine in Nolan’s 2006 film The Prestige

What goes around comes around, and with Robert Downey Jr, things go full circle. While Cillian Murphy carries the film - each expression and close up and tryst with his communist buddies making you wonder - ‘surely it couldn’t have been that bad’, Downey Jr hides his cards immaculately while pulling the strings. It’s the system versus the maverick, the monolith weight of peace-time bureaucracy versus the war-time ‘break things, move fast’ attitude. 

The dialogue may get a bit heavy at times. Some viewers gave the distinct impression they gave up not very far into the film. And it’s not likely to leave you feeling like you’ve just been to infinity and beyond like Interstellar did, but what Oppenheimer does is leave you in little doubt about how momentous it is. ‘Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds’ sums it up perfectly - this is when humanity transcended, and just about 80 years later, let us not forget. 

Stars: 4/5