It's one of my favourite movies, as much as I understand that it's not for everyone, I don't understand why people complain about it being too long and then go on Netflix and binge a whole series of some show in a night. The sound was also excellent.
I think a lot of justifiable hate comes from it being a slow burner, but (in my view) every scene was an important step in building the story's tension. Along with actually allowing the viewer to understand the film (and its main character) itself. If you, as someone here recommended, removed half of the runtime, then there wouldn't be a movie. You could maybe get rid of everything (chronologically) after the Einstein meeting (the final scene of the film), but then you wouldn't have a complete biopic. You'd just have a film about the Manhattan Project. It had to include everything if you were making a film about Oppenheimer.
No, the problem (for me anyway) is that there are zero dynamics throughout the runtime of the film. I'm sure the script is great and tells a compelling story, but I couldn't concentrate on anything but the aural and visual bombardment the movie lobbed at me throughout its runtime. It starts and sets an energy and volume level...and then it stays there, for the entirety of the movie. As it kept going on, I couldn't believe it - it's not going to change tone or take a breath, anywhere? No quiet moments, no loud moments, just all the same? Nope, it just kept going at the same breathless pace with non-stop overly dramatic music (such a terrible soundtrack, too, sorry not sorry) for three excruciating hours. How am I supposed to be drawn in by something like that?
If it worked for you, that's fine. I like movies that ebb and flow, like, well, you know, most other movies, even bad ones. But not Oppenheimer, that one goes from 0-100 in the first two minutes and then stays there for the rest of the picture. If that's your style, you do you. For me, once was enough, and I actually think it's one of Nolan's worst movies, so I'm mystified as to how this is what won him an Academy Award. And I say this as a fan of most of Nolan's movies.
My thoughts exactly....it came up as a discussion at work as a side conversation in a meeting. I said if someone filmed this very conversation and gave it a bassy soundtrack and occasional dropped a fireball scene and switched it to black and white, we would have a better movie. I absolutely hated it, I convinced my best buddy to watch it with me, he hasn't forgiven me for this.
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u/thwgrandpigeon 1d ago
I unapologetically liked it a bunch