J Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist born in 1904 and ‘Oppenheimer’ is a biopic, starring Cillian Murphy as the man himself, that hones in on his time leading a top-secret project to build nuclear weapons and specifically to create a bomb to end World War II. Spoiler alert - he was successful in doing so.
Now, we need to talk about the fact that this film is three hours long. Long-time readers of this blog will know I’m a 90-100 minutes kinda gal and I know I’m not alone! A three hour film is literally twice as long as a good film should be! (My view is correct… der.) For me, Oppenheimer is too long in the general comfort and attention span way but also content-wise, it could comfortably be 30-60 minutes shorter and be a great film. I think there’s a tendency to assume longer = better (epic!) and maybe more likely to win awards and I’m just not here for that. *steps off soap box*
The film jumps around in time and context and it’s easy to follow (and if I think it’s easy to follow it is - I typically get confused by films that do this) but this is an indication of how much is going on in the story. There are two US government hearings to cover as well as Oppenheimer’s life and work including his romantic relationships. (He was a bit of a dirty dog, you see, though the film doesn’t focus hugely on this.)
The first act of the film is the build up to whether Oppenheimer and his team will successfully build the atomic bomb. It’s long - too long - and seeks to build tension as indicated by the soaring soundtrack to these moments. But here’s the thing … I didn’t feel any tension. At all. I’ve pondered whether this is because I knew they would successfully get the bomb off the ground (pardon the pun) but I’m not sure it’s that. But I’m not sure what it is.
There’s an all-star cast. Cillian Murphy leading (he’s excellent), Robert Downey Jnr (also excellent, playing a political enemy of Oppenheimer), Emily Blunt (wife), Florence Pugh (fling), Matt Damon (military boss) and Rami Malik in a surprisingly small role.
Oppenheimer is, by and large, getting very positive reviews. Lots of 4 and 5 stars including this 5 star review in the Daily Telegraph. For me it’s more like 3 and whilst I didn’t ask him for a star rating, the friend I took to the screening agreed with me that it didn’t live up to the hype. So we’re a sample of just two but for what it’s worth, The Age has given it 3.5 stars and is certainly less glowing than many.
This blog is a bit longer than I like them to be. I blame the length of Oppenheimer - look what they made me do! I’m a mess! So here’s me cutting to the chase on Oppenheimer … it’s not as good as I hoped or expected but it’s not terrible, far from it. Heaps of people will like it. But you’ve gotta be up for three hours. ARE YOU UP FOR THREE HOURS?!
Oppenheimer is in cinemas now and is rated MA 15+.