I guess I knew how the test went, whereas I didn't know as much about the background of Oppenheimer's life before and after the Manhattan Project so in many ways I found that more interesting.
Definitely an interesting life worth exploring. Just don't really agree with the way the movie chose to portray it.
I saw the movie today but was way drunker than I thought after two job interviews today so I missed a good bit of it. Need to watch again on streaming.
Saw it today and it was really good, i hesitate to call it amazing - for that a few pieces didn't work for me. I felt the movie rushed through his life pre-Manhattan project, Nolan didn't allow Oppenheimers life to breathe on its own and develop. We didn't get to know him all too well on a personal level i felt, it was more like here's his affair, they fuck and she has mental problems. Then he meets his wife, they hit it off and she gets a lightning fast divorce and they marry etc. However when the Manhattan Project starts to take shape the movie slows down a little bit ( not much) and develops better, so much better that i was gripped by what was happening onscreen even though i knew the facts already ( even if not all details). It was amazing to see all the legendary scientists of the modern age appear, people that have made groundbreaking discoveries and i don't mean just Einstein. I loved how they were initially just focused on the scientific and engineering problems until they, or rather Oppenheimer, realized what they were unleashing but by the time he was there it was far too late and history would be changed forever. Since this movie is called Oppenheimer it obviously shouldn't just stop with the first atomic explosion or the use of the bomb on Japan, one of the central issues of the movie was Oppenheimers connection to communism that doomed him later on and his scientist naivety and ignorance of the forces around him makes the parts after the successful development crucial and heartbreaking too. I also can't remember when i last saw a movie with such a high density of brilliant actors down to the smallest roles, i mean there were Oscar winners who had all but 3-4 minutes of screentime. Murphy knocks it out of the park but so do others as well, chief amongst them Robert Downey Jr. and David Krumholtz ( because i remember him from goofy teenager movies from decades ago and here he absolutely delivers). Can't wait until this is on streaming to rewatch it.
Not in a million years would I have ever recognized Robert Downey Jr. (as Lewis Strauss). And my favorite line in the whole movie? "Don't let that crybaby back in here."
Belatedly saw this on National Cinema Day along with my wife and 16 year old. I haven’t really loved a Nolan film since Interstellar (skipped both Dunkirk and Tenet in the cinema). The premise and subject of this film didn’t particularly grab me so I could well have given it a miss. Booked this in the IMAX but misread the seating layout and was seated at the front rather than the back, curses. Anyway, once my eyes had adjusted, I LOVED the movie. I was gripped throughout. I’ve been a fan of Cillian Murphy since before Batman Begins but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so good. If he doesn’t win best actor, I will riot. RDJ was also brilliant as were Jason Clarke, Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh. Not a duff or middling performance in the whole movie, in fact. I do agree to some degree with the viewpoint that it went on too long after the bombings of Japan, that the time-hops and time frame were occasionally confusing and that we could’ve done with a Japanese point of view or glimpse of the horrors of nuclear destruction. But I think it still worked even with those flaws and without those scenes and I think that it made the final scene all the more powerful by the subtle buildup. I’m sure that I will not watch it as often as I’ve watched his Batman movies or other more commercial films, but it has to be Nolan’s masterpiece. To date, anyway.
I thankfully missed Tenet in the cinema, though did blind buy it on Blu-ray so that was a waste of money. Dunkirk on the big screen, with a big sound system, on the other hand was fantastic.