Peter Jonathan’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
I'm gonna look at this film from two points of view, cause I think that's how Nolan tackles the film and how I perceived it.
You can't have a film about Oppenheimer and and not dive into the morality of the ins and outs of the Los Alamos operation. It's funny to think people were worried if Robert would be shown as some "good guy", that didn't happen, but I will say with the way the film ends it kinda doesn't? if that makes sense. Cillian kills this performance and clearly inhabits the character of J. Robert Oppenheimer, his dead stares felt like the anti-Wes Anderson dead stares you get. Oppenheimer was coward, a "fake" per say, couldn't stand his own ground and couldn't pick a side despite knowing the consequences of his decisions. The film shows his want for fame and power in very subtle ways which is why I say the film doesn't always explicitly show that he worked maliciously. Honestly I think that was a good decision. I haven't read the book this was based on but I imagine it was also this way. We get a glimpse of his romantic ventures and how his atomic stuff affected him, I think the film shows that he loved his work just a s much as his loved ones.
The flip side of this film is the nitty-gritty and technicalities of who did what and why and whether they were allowed. Oppenheimer goes through an appeal to get his security clearance where he faces questions about actions he committed. It's a blurred situation because even though he is wrong, he faces a corrupt "jury" that are clearly working against him backed by Robert Downey Jr's character, who kinda steals the show in those final 30 minutes. I think it can be argued that even though Lewis Strauss is working against Robert because of petty grudges, he has a valid assessment of Robert's character. Because of that Met Lab's testimony, it kinda frames Oppenheimer in a good light, which is where I think some people could slander the film for, but I honestly liked it and I think the point is, whether Robert/Strauss was right they're all responsible and fail to take responsibility.
This review is probably my longest and messiest but bear with me on this. Really "spectacular" film.
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