Keshav Pawaskar’s review published on Letterboxd:
Oppenheimer is the 12th movie by auteur filmmaker Christopher Nolan. The biopic brings J. Robert Oppenheimer's life and history to the audience and shares unique perspectives on his life. The movie is entirely shot with IMAX film cameras, and watching this movie in IMAX makes you appreciate the superior image quality of each scene. Especially the black & white scenes, which were visually immaculate. Talking about sound design, the movie really shakes you up with its sound and lets you be part of the movie. The soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson is pleasant and you can hear the tracks on loop.
The biopic is divided into three major events which are shown in a nonlinear way. The first part is the university days of Oppenheimer and his involvement in the Manhattan Project leading to the Trinity test. The second major event was Oppenheimer's trial for security clearance and his political affiliations. The third major event was Lewis Strauss's Senate Confirmation hearing. The scenes from Lewis Strauss's perspective were Black & White to give us from an objective point of view. Some of my favorite scenes are when scientists have discussions about the process of making an atomic bomb, moments leading up to the Trinity test detonation and the concluding moments of the Oppenheimer trial.
Cillian Murphy did a phenomenal job portraying J. Robert Oppenheimer and I don't think anyone else could have nailed the looks and persona to such perfection. It was refreshing to see Robert Downey Jr. stressing his acting muscles and bringing the necessary gravitas to Strauss's character. The other supporting cast brought their A game, to mention a few who are Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Jason Clarke, Josh Harnett, Alden Ehrenreich, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Dane DeHaan. Christopher Nolan's decision to keep a biopic movie nonlinear with major events intertwined with each was a bold choice and it worked so well with brisk editing. If you haven't seen this movie yet or are planning to watch it, try to see the movie on the biggest screen with a great sound system to get the best out of the movie watching experience.
