Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

This deserves all of its plaudits. It feels like reading a long, dense, fascinating, and satisfying biography, which is appropriate since it was adapted from one. The screenplay is packed with wit and copious historic detail, the casting goes a long way toward differentiating the notable figures, the music is relentless and sometimes intense, the photography is gorgeous, the acting top-notch... pretty much everything you'd expect from a filmmaker at the peak of his powers and a new studio eager to support him as a creative partner. (How's that strategy of releasing every new film simultaneously on HBO Max working out for you now, Warner Bros?) My only gripe is an early sequence depicting young Oppenheimer's troubled brilliance in laughable this-is-what-Hollywood-thinks-genius-looks-like clichés, but that quickly passes and the film never steps wrong again. It's excellent and worthy of the numerous Oscars that it's expected to win a few days after I write this.

− March 4, 2024 • more by Scottlog in or create an account to reply

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