How does Writer/Director Christopher Nolan keep doing it? He has somehow become the purveyor of smart, challenging blockbuster entertainment that pushes the experience of watching a film, in that it provokes and delights audiences in ways they never thought possible. Leave it to him to put his unique, time-twisting spin on the biopic with ‘Oppenheimer’, his adaption of “American Prometheus”, the gargantuan Pulitzer Prize winning biography of the titular father of the atomic bomb.

It’s not just bluster or a desperate attempt to save cinema to say that ‘Oppenheimer’ must be seen on the biggest screen possible with top-notch sound. While the movie on its surface is a recitation on the life and times of brilliant physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, played magnificently by Cillian Murphy, its telling is the opposite of rote. Not only is it non-linear, jumping back and forth through time periods, represented by wholly different filmmaking styles, its bombastic sound design and visual flairs (Oppy’s thoughts and views of the universe are on display in flashes and sparks of an atomic sub-universe) enhance the viewing experience in unprecedented ways. Of course, the key moment of his life, what cemented him in the annals, was his work leading The Manhattan Project in the New Mexico desert at Los Alamos, a collection of the finest minds across the USA and beyond which culminated in the detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb.

The film does not shy away from this at once momentous and infamous moment in human history. Instead it relays a comprehensive character study of a complicated man consumed by his ego and driven by inner turmoil, plagued by his own thoughts of the unseen atomic world. Throughout its many and varied mini vignettes (the editing is unparalleled), Murphy plays Oppenheimer as an intellectual thirsting for knowledge, constantly seeking truth that takes him from lecture halls listening to the finest minds in physics (famous names like Heisenberg and Niels Bohr, a playfully restrained Kenneth Branagh) to literal Communist parties. He’s presented as a person seeking truth and pure expression of that truth, politics and manners be damned. It’s there in his various relationships, played by just about every working actor in the business, floating in and out of the movie.

Nolan has historically utilized a large cast of very capable performers in his films – “Oppenheimer” may be his most indulgent in this regard. Surprisingly non-distracting, the parade of top talent and character actors across the screen provide a constant jolt of recognition and awe throughout. Real standouts featured in the trailer are Robert Downey Jr. as Eisenhower cabinet aspirer Lewis Strauss, Matt Damon as the military overseer of the Project, Leslie Groves, and Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer, who freely engages in a marital relation that is both intellectually stimulating and confounding for her. In smaller but no less pivotal roles, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, and David Krumholtz stand out as key figures that help shape the psyche of the central figure in this story. Pugh especially, inhabits an intrinsic driving force for Oppenheimer, looming large in sexually charged scenes that are new and welcome additions to Nolan’s artistry.

It is difficult to describe the experience of ‘Oppenheimer’ on the IMAX screen. Intended for this kind of viewing, Ludwig Goransson’s propulsive, ticking clock of a score might be the MVP of the movie along with Nolan’s overall vision and Murphy’s singular performance. There’s so much here to unpack, complicating what is not a typical telling of a life and its impact on society. One of the keys to this story is the focus on intellectual value, an important point that seems to get lost in today’s world. ‘Oppenheimer’s focus on how science’s service to power and the differences in the motivations of those seeking power versus knowledge and progress provides an interesting theme that will resonate across and for generations – there is a lesson here, but one more complex than previously imagined . . .

Written & Directed By: Christopher Nolan

Running Time: 180 min.

Rated: R

* * * * (out of 4 stars) -OR- A