Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer tells the story of the father of the atomic bomb through three segments: Oppenheimer's early time as a physicist through the completion of the Manhattan Project; Oppenheimer's later administrative hearing challenging the revocation of his security clearance; and the Senate confirmation hearing of Lewis Strauss for a presidential cabinet post, where Strauss's oversight of and relation to Oppenheimer featured prominently.
I have three reactions after seeing it tonight. One: It's gorgeously shot, well worth seeing in IMAX. Two: the film generally succeeds at establishing the various personalities at play despite the dense subject matter of physics and the splicing together of the three different segments. The various storylines all proceed in tandem and it would be easy to mis-edit a film like this and make it confusing or even incomprehensible to the audience. In that regard, kudos to the development team. Three: It still felt about a half an hour too long. Given the span of time covered from different angles, it's not unfair to expect a long runtime. But, if you can hit the restroom and return five minutes later without the plot progressing, there's room for tighter editing.
Overall: definitely worth seeing, but if you're not going to see it in IMAX, wait for it to leave theaters.
I have three reactions after seeing it tonight. One: It's gorgeously shot, well worth seeing in IMAX. Two: the film generally succeeds at establishing the various personalities at play despite the dense subject matter of physics and the splicing together of the three different segments. The various storylines all proceed in tandem and it would be easy to mis-edit a film like this and make it confusing or even incomprehensible to the audience. In that regard, kudos to the development team. Three: It still felt about a half an hour too long. Given the span of time covered from different angles, it's not unfair to expect a long runtime. But, if you can hit the restroom and return five minutes later without the plot progressing, there's room for tighter editing.
Overall: definitely worth seeing, but if you're not going to see it in IMAX, wait for it to leave theaters.