Oppenheimer (2023)

Covering the years 1926 to 1963, the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) known as the father of the atomic bomb. Based on the non fiction book AMERICAN PROMETHEUS by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin and directed by Christopher Nolan (THE DARK KNIGHT RISES). I'm not much of a fan of Nolan's work, his films are very hit and miss with me, usually miss. But this ambitious three hour portrait of Oppenheimer focusing on his personal life as much as his contribution to the development of the atomic bomb aka the Manhattan Project is wonderful. My enthusiasm for the film also includes my admiration for Murphy's masterful performance. I confess some of the film's technical aspects were beyond me (science was always my weakest subject in school) but Nolan's dramatic sense compensates for the excursions into fissions and fusions. Bold and imaginative, the three hours flew by and this is from someone who has little patience for long movies but there's no waste here. The superb cast includes Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh, Tom Conti, Casey Affleck, Matthew Modine, Benny Safdie, Alden Ehrenreich and Josh Hartnett.