The Stream: Is every movie 3 hours long now? Also, the science may get a bit dense.

The Big Screen: Christopher Nolan does his thing to make this biopic compelling.

The Final Bill: A complicated, fascinating and scarily relevant story that’s well-paced for a 3-hour movie.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan based on a book by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Josh Hartnett, Alden Ehrenreich, Florence Pugh
Genre: Drama
Rating: R for some sexuality, nudity and language
Runtime: 2 hours 54 minutes
Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Atlas Entertainment, Gadget Films, Syncopy
Platform: In theaters July 21, 2023
Notable Trailers: Gran Turismo, Meg 2: The Trench, The Holdovers, Last Voyage of the Demeter, The Exorcist: Believer

What’s up, Streamers? Today, it’s the “-Enheimer” to your “Barb-“. The other half of the internet phenomenon is a 3-hour, epic biopic from Christopher Nolan. Nolan takes his fascination with physics from the imagined worlds of Interstellar, Inception and Tenet and places it squarely in the terrifyingly real historical context of the development of the atomic bomb.

In this corner, coming in at 5 ft. 10 in., it’s American theoretical physicist and father of the atomic bomb – J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer tells the story of the rise and fall of the tenacious and brilliant scientist and leader of the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), as his team develops the atomic bomb and the subsequent personal and political fallout from it. The film tells the story through contrasting hearings that occur after the atomic bomb is used to end World War II: a hearing to strip Oppenheimer of his security clearance and the Senate confirmation hearing of Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey, Jr.) as Secretary of Commerce under President Eisenhower. Mushroom cloud and Communist witch-hunting hijinks ensue.

For a dense historical biopic, Oppenheimer has the feeling of a taut, espionage thriller or like a psychological drama thanks to Christopher Nolan’s direction. There’s so much tension built up throughout the movie despite the fact that we know what happened to these people. Nolan does a really good job of connecting Oppenheimer’s concerns post-development of the atomic bomb to our existential threats today. Beyond that, the budget of this movie was well-spent. There are a ton of familiar faces throughout. Even if you don’t really know Cillian Murphy as a leading man, there’s Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Robert Downey. Jr. and many cameos. The sound and visual effects that are used to enhance the science of creating the bomb and setting it off are amazing.

At 3-hours, the movie starts to lose some steam when the focus shifts from developing the bomb to grappling with what the existence of the bomb means. This is an important and compelling question, but it is told through these competing administrative hearings that aren’t as propulsive as the science driving the first part of the movie. Also, the motivations and connections between characters gets a little confusing because there are so many characters and competing interests to keep track of. Nolan does a good job of orienting the timeframes of the movie by differentiating between black and white cinematography and color and the editing keeps things moving quickly. On the other hand, there are a lot of similar looking dudes saying scientific and political jargon that it can be disorienting.

Sidebar: Oppenheimer reminds me of something like There Will Be Blood except Oppenheimer, himself, isn’t a complete psychopath like Daniel Plainview.

Ultimately, Oppenheimer is an urgent and thrilling historical drama that makes relevant connections to our world today. Christopher Nolan puts his unique stamp on the stylish crafts and has assembled a sprawling cast. Although the movie is 3-hours long, it is edited well enough to avoid feeling slow or boring. It is worthy of a viewing on the big screen, so get a big enough box of popcorn to last you the entire runtime.