"Oppenheimer" Review

 

by John Zenoni

‘Oppenheimer’, directed by Christopher Nolan, is without a doubt a modern day masterpiece in terms of filmmaking. The direction, lighting, cinematography, special effects, editing, sound - all are just amazing and so in-synch with each other it's just like a smooth machine. That's really the best way I can describe it. Even the smallest scene involving a green apple and the image of what appears to be water - but is actually medicine - flowing out of and down the side of the apple is captured perfectly.

The acting though, by everyone in the film (of which there is a laundry list of first-rate actors), is absolutely brilliant and is what stands out, particularly the performances of Robert Downey, Jr., who portrays Lewis Strauss, and Cillian Murphy, who portrays J. Robert Oppenheimer himself. These two are at the heart of the film and both do an amazing job, especially Murphy. Murphy truly outdoes himself and he definitely should be a shoo-in as a nominee for the Best Actor Oscar category (if not the winner) this coming year. He gives an absolute tour-de-force and is to be commended for his role.

Even though a long film, right at 3 hours, the images, dialogue and scenes keep you engrossed. However, and I know many will probably disagree with me on this, I don't recommend seeing this film in a dome-type theater, such as a planetarium. I did this and - perhaps it was this facility itself - the seats were not comfortable and seeing it like that actually took away from the film for me. It was way too far stretched so I felt like I missed some scenes and had to strain my eyes and neck to capture it all. I wish now I had seen this in a regular theater with IMAX or RPX. But it's definitely an important film that I highly recommend!