Oppenheimer (#448)


One day after my mind-numbing experience watching Mission Impossible, I saw an outstanding film that I really liked and admired.  I confess I remember very little about the history that led up to the creation of the atom bomb.  Blame it on the fact that I was in high school at the time and desperately trying to figure out a way to join the military and get into the fight to end the war.  Therefore I don’t know how accurately OPPENHEIMER tells the story of the brilliant physicist chosen to head a team of scientists in a mission to beat the Germans in creating the bomb and subsequently fighting the forces depicting him as a communist and traitor.  An excellent cast headed by Cillian Murphy as the title character, Matt Damon as the general in overall charge of the program, Emily Blunt as O’s wife and Robert Downey Jr. as the villain, Lewis Strauss who first supports Oppenheimer and then viciously turns on him.  And, although 3 plus hours is too long for any film, I was not too strained by the effort.  For a change, critics, audiences and I were in tune, with both critics and audiences giving it a 94% thumbs up. 

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