Oppenheimer Review – Is It Really Nolan’s Best Yet?

If there is any director who has singlehandedly inspired me to be a filmmaker then it has to be Christopher Nolan. The man has made me fall in love with movies and showed me that nothing is impossible. I consider the year lucky in which Nolan decides to release his film. The commitment Nolan has towards his craft is unparalleled. The complexities of his narratives challenge the very rules of screenwriting itself. He is one of the few directors with no bad film in his filmography. The closest he came to a bad film is with Tenet (2020). Which is exactly why his next directorial – Oppenheimer, became so crucial. Not just for him but also his loyal fan base. Nolan’s films are seen for him and not for anyone else. Many have called Oppenheimer his best work in the 20 year long career. So, is it? Let’s find out.

Oppenheimer Review: Not Nolan’s Best!

Rating – ★★★1/5

Oppenheimer was Nolan’s first R-rated film after Memento. A film that I consider his best. Nolan is not trying to gather the masses with this film. This is as arty as he can get. So, considering everything is Oppenheimer his best work? Nope. Not by a long shot. It is not even in his Top 5. However, that does not make it a bad film. We need to judge the film properly. I have said it before and I will say it again, Nolan has simply set the bar too high for himself. He truly has to do something extraordinary to beat Memento.

Many don’t realise what a cinematic achievement it is where your story is flowing backwards but your scenes are moving forwards but through some sorcery everything makes sense. Oppenheimer is a great film. Maybe even this year’s best yet but pales in comparison to Nolan’s other films, not just Memento. So, now that the big question is out of the way, let us discuss the film for what it is and not judge it unfairly.

Oppenheimer Has A Few Focus Issues!

For a film that is so technically advanced that it is called a cinematic achievement, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer does suffer from one of the most basic issues in filmmaking. In its three hour long runtime of the film, I noticed that many times characters in the film are out of focus. Trust me, it is not on purpose. It is not a camera trick to get us into the mind of the character, it is in all honesty an error. A major one at that as there are a lot out of focus shots.

Many times the editor cuts away to other characters to avoid this issue but it is still noticeable. The error is not huge enough to distance you from the film but for a film of this caliber, it is an unacceptable fault. The DOP Hoyte van Hoytema should be concerned.

 Lackluster Dialogues!

Oppenheimer is a 180 pages dialogue driven film. That is tedious. If there was any other director behind the camera, he wouldn’t be able to make the film. It is Nolan’s extraordinary vision, execution skills and knowledge of the craft that has saved this film. For a dialogue heavy script, the dialogues of the film are average at best. There is not a single line that stayed with me, except of course the Bhagvad Geeta quote. Most of the film’s lines are expository – only a medium of information. Especially the last hour.

If it wasn’t for the great performances in the film, Nolan might’ve faced a grave danger where the film might have felt like an information video. The film is not a documentary drama so such dialogues are not acceptable. What is surprising is that dialogues are Nolan’s strong suit. I don’t how he settled for mediocrity in his latest venture. The exceptional sound design and inspiring editing keeps us hooked, something the dialogues alone couldn’t have.

Outstanding Structure And Editing!

Once again Nolan has opted for a non-linear structure and once again he has done it right. In a recent interview of Christopher Nolan, he revealed that his constant choice of non-linear screenplays is to maintain the mystery in the narrative. The idea of having non-linear structure in a biopic worked brilliantly. The way the film is cut together is truly phenomenal as it keeps you hooked to the story of Oppenheimer till the very last moment. I especially appreciated Einstein and Oppenheimer’s conversation to be the last scene of the film.

The journey of making the atomic bomb and the consequences Oppenheimer faced after, both are cut in between giving us a dense narrative something that the audience can unravel slowly.

Oppenheimer Boasts Many Career Best Performances!

Cillian Murphy has done it second time in his career. After immortalizing Thomas Shelby, he will now go down in history as the face of J. Robert Oppenheimer. In many scenes, he doesn’t have lines, it is his glare that wins us over. Not one minute in the film I felt that I was watching Cillian Murphy, I was always with Oppenheimer. I would be surprised if he doesn’t get a Best Actor nod. Apart from him, Robert Downey Jr. is phenomenal. This is his best performance yet.

If you watched him as Iron Man and thought he can’t act then watch Oppenheimer. An Oscar nod is guaranteed. Matt Damon rules every scene that he is in. Powerful as ever. Emily Blunt has very limited screen presence but she gets that one interrogation scene where she absolutely kills it. That was my also personal favorite scene from the entire film.

Marvelous Sound Design!

Sound design is one of the most iconic features of Nolan’s filmography. We all remember the soundtrack of The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar and even Tenet. Whatever emotions Nolan is attempting to evoke, his soundtrack does it perfectly. Oppenheimer would have been half the film it is, if the soundtrack from Ludwig Göransson wasn’t this good. The intensity you feel in all the scenes is credit to the amazing score. I was astound by the quality of Ludwig’s work and cannot wait to listen more.

I’m surprised that I didn’t miss Hans Zimmer. That being said, if there is any other competition to Oppenheimer’s score then it will be Zimmer’s score from Dune: Part Two which is scheduled to come out this year.

Verdict

When it comes to the genre of biographical drama, Oppenheimer is as good a film that you will find. This is Nolan’s shot at his well deserved Oscar. Despite having some problems, Oppenheimer is an outstanding achievement from Nolan. A character study of the highest caliber. When not compared to his previous works, Oppenheimer is the best film of 2023. However, given the films that are yet to come in 2023, this title will most likely will be taken away from Nolan’s directorial.

I strongly recommend you to watch Oppenheimer on the biggest screen possible. The experience you get in IMAX is unparalleled. The long 3 hour long runtime is not felt and if you can look past some of the above mentioned issues then you’re going to experience an intense drama, full of layers and strong themes that are even relevant today.  I’m going to watch it again as people claim that the film is better in a second viewing, like most Nolan films. I’ll rate Oppenheimer 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The story of Oppenheimer is adapted from Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer will be the first film to be shot in B/W and IMAX. The film is made on a hefty budget of $185 Million. The film basically has half of Hollywood in it including Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, David Krumholtz, Kenneth Branagh, Gary Oldman, Casey Affleck and Michael Angarano.

The World Is Changing in your nearby theatres.

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