Review: 'Oppenheimer' fails to connect

Three out of Five Stars

By Abby Cowels
Staff Writer

The movie “Oppenheimer” (2023), directed by Christopher Nolan, is the biopic/drama surrounding the personal and professional life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, and his brilliance that was taken advantage of by the U.S. government.

The movie, based on a true story, was recently nominated for many awards, and won several as well. The film was, perhaps, the culmination of Nolan’s work, and it truly showed in all of the best, and all of the worst ways possible.

Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy) was a curious physics student playing off of some of Albert Einstein’s most famous theories. With the devastating effects of WWII, fear struck around the world and it became a race to build a weapon like no person had ever seen before.

The story is structured in a non-linear timeline, jumping back and forth between his personal, professional and political relationships. The film leads up to the anticipated hearing to discuss Oppenheimer’s “questionable” morals when it came to building the bomb.

Of course, as a country we have grown to hate and resent Oppenheimer. But like any human, he has his regrets and guilt for past decisions. Though somehow, dealing with such internal conflict, the movie felt disconnected to any real humanness.

Overall, it was OK. The story was engaging, but the film was not. The editing was messy and confusing.

I am certain at this point, that Nolan has never even had a conversation with a woman, considering that the female roles were reduced to “The Drunk and “The Trollop.”

Oppenheimer, at a running time of three hours, somehow fails to connect to humanity in any way. It was forcefully intellectual, erratically paced and really boring.