dantesring’s review published on Letterboxd:
What a time we live in when a biopic about the father of the atomic bomb would be considered a blockbuster! It is truly something to behold. Nolan has gained the status so that even a three picture about people talking and making plans would be a highly anticipated film.
I was excited to see it, but I left the theater a little tempered by the experience. It was satisfying but not wholly and it did not deliver the emotional catharsis I was expecting from it. It is still pretty amazing, well performed and gorgeous to look at.
What I fail to understand is the third act when the film becomes sort of a courtroom drama. We spend way too much time with Downey revealing his mechanations and the character of Oppenheimer gets lost. If the film is truly a biopic, which it is structured as, why so much time with an unneccesary secondary character. It wasn't engaging and made the final hour of the picture crawl when it had been so fleet footed before. It is hard for me to reconcile.
The running time isn't the issue but it might have been served better by exploring his wife's thoughts and story arc. She seems fascinating but so little is done with her it feels like an affront. The same goes with Pugh. Clearly these women shaped his life in a meaningful way but it is just given a passing glance and a means of passing information to the audience all of which makes the courtroom stuff seem even more useless to the story.
As far as catharsis goes, it just deliver the emotion I needed to feel. The biggest question asked is how does one live knowing that one has killed thousands and potentially billions by the weapon one created? It is a mind numbing thought and OPPENHEIMER almost gets there, yet it is again derailed by the final act which focuses more on the man's security clearance and retribution from others than choosing to wrestle with the idea. The quick lip service it gives us in the final scene is not nearly enough and only reminds us that they may have forgot the point.
It is still worthy of a watch as Nolan is a master craftsman and every single performance shines. I do not think it is nearly the masterpiece it is claimed to be. It is just a very good film that lost its way.
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