Review: Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer does exquisite justice to history. Its energy takes your breath away. And the final minute brings you up very sharply indeed.

Words by Max Anderson

Yes, empty your bladder before going to see Oppenheimer. But do one other thing, too: Google up vision of J Robert Oppenheimer in 1965, recounting what he and his fellow scientists thought on seeing their ‘gadget’ detonate over the New Mexican deserts. His hawkish, haunted face fills the screen, his hooded eyes look down: “‘Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds’... I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”

This was surely the starting point for Christopher Nolan’s biopic, and the director knew just the actor to embody the tormented genius who marshalled humanity’s bid
to split atoms.

Cillian Murphy’s performance as Oppenheimer is so powerful he dominates the screen even when he’s not on it, hovering at the back of your mind like an empty-eyed ghost. Meanwhile, an A-grade supporting cast work with Nolan’s sizzling script to create moments of megaton intensity. Count them down...

Matt Damon’s entrance as the earthy Lt Gen Leslie Groves; Casey Affleck’s small cameo as Pash, bringing excruciating menace to bear; Gary Oldman as President Truman, charming Oppy in the office then sneering at him as a ‘cry- baby’. Get ready also for not one but two intimate scenes between Oppenheimer and his Communist party lover, Jean Tatlock, played by Florence Pugh – they’ll make your head ring and not for the reasons you think.

The movie approximates to three chapters in Oppenheimer’s life, but because it’s a Nolan movie, he interfolds them. The movie cuts between Oppenheimer’s pre-war years, the development of the bomb in Los Alamos and post-war hearings that aim to strip Oppenheimer of his security clearance. It’s tightly packed and furiously paced; you can’t lose concentration for a moment, let alone go for a leak.

It’s left the movie open to some criticism of being too long and too difficult. And as a Nolan doubter (The Dark Knight Rises – inane, Inception – self-indulgent, Dunkirk – jingoistic stinker) I was ready for this. But the mechanics of this film are truly perfect. Oppenheimer does exquisite justice to the history. Its energy takes your breath away. And the final minute brings you up very sharply indeed.

Don’t look away.