Ok, finally got to see it and I am flabbergasted. This may be Nolan’s best movie for me. I didn’t pay attention to the casting too much for this and this cast is absolutely stacked. Everyone is amazing in the movie. I was particularly impressed with David Krumholtz. It’s so amazing to see this actor who’s most well known scene is talking about how magical Katie Holmes’ breasts are to where he is now. A great character actor. I really couldn’t believe how many big actors in this and also have super small roles. I thought Rami Malek wasn’t going to have any lines at all until the last 20 minutes.

RDJ just disappeared into the role for me. I didn’t even recognize him at first. I was only reminded it was RDJ when he got loud a couple times and I heard his normal nasally voice. Cillian Murphy was absolutely fantastic and I’m so glad he got to be the leading character again. The only person I felt was miscast was Casey Affleck. They were painting his character as this hardened, intimidating person and Casey just didn’t pull that off to me.

For me, the highlight of the whole movie was the sound design. The clicking of the Geiger counter mixed with the music when Oppenheimer was talking to his wife about they were about to test and if successful to pull the sheets in really had this sense of dread that added to the scene fantasticly. And the speech where the cheering dropped out and he was seeing visions was just “chef’s kiss”.

I really don’t understand some of the criticism I’ve seen for this movie. I do agree that Nolan has a problem writing women and the women in this are like most of his films and are there mostly to drive the actions of men. It didn’t bother me too much in this but it is noticeable. The people complaining about the explosion not being this epic thing, I feel like missed the whole point of that scene. It isn’t about the explosion, it’s about all the people’s reactions to it. Especially the scene immediately following where everyone is cheering, basically for their own destruction. Only Oppenheimer can see what has been truly unleashed on the world. The movie is not about the bomb, but about the man. It’s a true biopic.

I am glad the film didn’t make Oppenheimer out to be a hero nor a villain. He was a deeply complicated man, and I feel like the film painted him as a man full of ambition, confusion, and ultimately regret. The movie is also one of the most well paced films I’ve ever seen. 3 hours flew by and I was never bored. All in all, not much to complain about and I think it’s a masterpiece.