Being a history buff regarding the Manhattan project and a fan of the movie “Fat Man & Little Boy” I was looking forward to this movie. One thing that put me off from seeing it right away was the 3 hour run time. So, I waited until it was available at home and I broke it into two separate nights.
The movie was beautifully shot and very well acted. The casting choices were great. Even Matt Damon was very good as General Leslie Groves. A few characters felt a little forced in order to explain the plot and to make sure you knew who the bad guys were. Still, I found the story to be cut together very well and the pacing to be great.
The movie was very enthralling all the way up to the explosion of the test bomb in New Mexico. The third act was a bit of a drag where it got into the persecution and politics of the man. But, if you are going to tell Oppenheimer’s life story you needed to include these aspects. They did manage to make it interesting by working in some effects to even the less-exciting parts.
Cillian Murphy transformed himself into L. Robert Oppenheimer and was brilliant in this. If he doesn’t win all the awards I would be surprised. Robert Downey Jr. was great as usual. He has fantastic acting chops and at times I didn’t even realize it was him playing the character, which I suppose is the best compliment you can give an actor. How many time have you heard someone say an actor “plays himself in every movie”. Leonardo DiCaprio is an actor I have heard people say that about a great deal.
This movie is a great reminder to the millions of people who saw it that nuclear weapons are an ever-present threat, one which can destroy the world. It seems that people keep seeming to forget this fact when they freely discuss potential war between super powers like China, Russia, USA etc.
Overall the movie was very entertaining for me but ran a little long, even though I know Christopher Nolan probably had to leave hours of it on the cutting-room floor. Based on my experience and my interest in the subject matter I will rate this movie at 92 out of 100 potatoes.
I would recommend this movie for everyone to see even if history or impending doom are not topics in which you are interested. It is entertaining enough to keep even the most casual fan’s interest. You may ever find that you need to break it into two halves like I did. Anyway, happy watching!
