Joe Harrison’s review published on Letterboxd:
Oppenheimer is Robert Ford. The bomb is Jesse James.
A great man of history biopic about what happens when the great man loses control of that history. A man of theory and philosophies, grossly underprepared for the reality of the task he's hired to undertake, realises far, far too late that this project, this weapon and those hundreds of thousands of fatalities are his legacy. His attempts to face the ethics and morality of his deeds can be seen as a genuine act of biblical repentance, an attempt to save himself from being eaten alive by a cataclysm of his own doing, now unbound from time and unleashed on the universe. It can also be seen as a desperate attempt to claw back his place in the history books. Like Robert Ford, Oppenheimer is overshadowed by the act of history he set into motion. Even if his fate is to be remembered as the man who nearly destroyed the world, ushered in the 21st century and doomed humanity to an eternity of fear and terror, that's how the wave rolls. To some men, its better to be remembered for that than to not be remembered at all.
Probably Nolan's best, but that's not saying much coming from me. Still suffers from most of his regular issues (exposition heavy script loaded with long explanations of scientific concepts, a gimmicky structure that's unnecessary to the overall flow, a score and sound design that's trying to kill you), but it mostly pulls off a tight balancing act between weighty spectacle and thematic heft. Nolan continues to be his own worst enemy, but he's getting better at least. Maybe overhyped a bit, but definitely engaging and occasionally awe-inspiring.
Joe liked these reviews
All
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_44cb354e-d1e7-4179-a526-6b92b42af52c" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-44cb354e-d1e7-4179-a526-6b92b42af52c'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-44cb354e-d1e7-4179-a526-6b92b42af52c'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-44cb354e-d1e7-4179-a526-6b92b42af52c'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_543ffa74-b08b-4c1f-b53a-7d16c4121a8b" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-543ffa74-b08b-4c1f-b53a-7d16c4121a8b'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-543ffa74-b08b-4c1f-b53a-7d16c4121a8b'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-543ffa74-b08b-4c1f-b53a-7d16c4121a8b'));
