Old Man Angelo’s review published on Letterboxd:
Oppenheimer is not a movie to absorb in one sitting. Ostensibly it’s Christopher Nolan putting The Dam Busters and JFK together to create a portrait of abject horror as Robert Oppenheimer faces the evils of his creation, while facing persecution for essentially being haunted by his part in one of the worst war crimes in history.
This is one of Nolan’s longest films, but it moves like all his other ones thanks to his typically propulsive storytelling. This time he’s not interested delineating his non linear storytelling at all outside of telling us RDJ’s perspective in black and white (Nolan calls this the objective POV, but I feel like it’s also Lewis Strauss seeing his relationship/rivalry with Oppenheimer that way), and somehow it’s still reasonably easy to follow despite how merciless Nolan is in throwing us in the deep end during the opening minutes.
This is one of the more complex biopics to have come in recent years. Not due to Nolan’s technical exercises but because the script simply refuses to make Oppenheimer an easy person to figure out. Cillian Murphy’s performance will have layers to it that will be getting unearthed for years to come, he practically morphs into Christopher Walken at points with his skeletal features and big bug eyes. I would say this is exactly the kind of performance Walken would’ve given in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Give me Nolan and Murphy’s version of Deer Hunter next.
The movie is very unapologetic in its depiction of Oppenheimer, we definitely explore the psychological effects of a human atrocity to its fullest extent but Oppenheimer doesn’t get a free pass. Robert Downey Jr gets a fantastic closing monologue which, in that black and white objective perspective, could very well also be Nolan giving the real Oppenheimer a dressing down.
The cast is extremely stacked and we get to do the Leo pointing meme approximately every 5 minutes. Some amazing actors show up to deliver 5 lines of dialogue and there’s not a single wrong note in any of them. I’m not going to list everyone because they’re all great, but I’ll say Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr should absolutely receive awards recognition here, and alongside them Alden Ehrenreich and Josh Hartnett also really stand out, Ehrenreich is given an extremely difficult (and thankless since he’s simply credited as Senators Aide) task of being the main cast member bouncing off RDJ and he nails it, likewise Hartnett does the same for Murphy.
It’s a testament to Nolan’s film making and the amazing cast that the movie feels like a satisfying cinematic feast. It’s unrelenting in the sense of dread, paranoia, distrust and persecution, even briefly humorous asides like the war secretary scratching off Kyoto because he went on vacation there are fucking bleak. This maybe Nolan at his angriest, damning everyone involved and the circumstances that drove them.
