jkwjohn’s review published on Letterboxd:
My third trip in four days to see this masterpiece and I am still absolutely hooked. There are many elements to this story that I find deeply fascinating but here are a couple areas of the film I want to touch upon.
One aspect of Oppenheimer that intrigues me is the duality between the bomb and the chain reaction. On the one hand is the physical chain reaction, an immediate destruction of the world, and on the other hand, consequently there is an indirect chain reaction of propelling the world into an arms race, equipping us with the means of destruction in a hypothetical future scenario. Neither of these we can escape, and we have become the victims of our own pursuits of science. It is a story that holds such weight for today's society and we simply cannot ignore that.
Another element that makes the film so great is the relationship between Strauss and Robert J Oppenheimer which we see evolve and thicken throughout the course of the film. They are both deeply flawed, layered, and complex individuals, driven by their own senses of what is fair and just. By the end of the film, their dynamic takes a great shift, and watching RDJ and Cillian Murphy portray their characters on screen is a masterclass in acting. They both deliver nuanced, mature, and measured performances that really make you engage with their characters. You feel the weight of what is laid out in front of them, particularly with Murphy whose pained expressions and vocal deliveries feel deeply emotive.
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