Oppenheimer’s initial reactions praise Cillian Murphy’s “spectacular” performance in the Christopher Nolan epic
The Oppenheimer The cast walked the red carpet for the film’s world premiere on Tuesday (July 11) in Paris, France.
A select number of journalists attended the screening and initial reactions were lavish with praise.
Irish actor Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders), 47, stars as “the father of the atomic bomb,” Robert J. Oppenheimer, in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated biopic.
The all-star cast includes Emily Blunt, 40, who plays Oppenheimer’s wife, biologist Kitty Oppenheimer; Matt Damon, 52, plays Manhattan Project director Lt. Leslie Groves Jr., Florence Pugh, 27, plays Oppenheimer’s ex-fiancée, psychiatrist and doctor Jean Tatlock, and Robert Downey Jr., 58, plays Lewis Strauss, the former chairman of the Atomic Energy Agency Commission.
“The performances of these actors…I think you’re going to be as impressed as I am,” Nolan told premiere attendees.
“It’s an intense experience. It’s a very serious subject. But it’s something we put our hearts and souls into,” he added.
The first viewers were actually impressed by the film.
The Associated Press’ Lindsey Bahr called the film “a spectacular achievement in its truthful, concise adaptation, imaginative storytelling, and nuanced performances from Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and the many, many others involved.”
“#Oppenheimer stunned me: a character study on a grand scale with a great central performance by Cillian Murphy,” said Matt Maytum, deputy editor of total movie wrote. “An epic historical drama but with a distinct Nolan sensibility: suspense, structure, sense of scale, stunning sound design, remarkable visuals.” Wow,” he added.
“Lost into ‘Oppenheimer,’ a dense, suspenseful talkie that’s partly about the bomb and mostly about how doomed we are,” says Jonathan Dean The Sunday Times tweeted. “Happy Summer! Murphy is good but the support is essential: Damon, Downey Jr & Ehrenreich even bring gags. A bold, imaginative and complex film that leaves its audience unsettled.”
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Oppenheimer is inspired by the 2005 biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy by J. Robert Oppenheimerwritten by Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin.
At an academic discussion last month, Bird said: “I’m stunned at the moment and emotionally recovering from what I’ve seen [Oppenheimer].”
Nolan previously teased that the film left early viewers “devastated.”
“You can’t speak. I mean, there’s an element of fear that’s in the story and in the background,” the director said.
In addition to Murphy, Pugh, Blunt, Damon and Downey Jr. Oppenheimer Also starring are Rami Malek, Gary Oldman, Dane DeHaan, Josh Hartnett, Kenneth Branagh, Matthew Modine, Casey Affleck, Alden Ehrenreich and Jason Clarke.
See more reactions below:
Oppenheimer hits theaters on July 21, the same day as Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Eager fans are already planning to buy tickets to see both films back-to-back. The viral trend dubbed “Barbenheimer” has become so popular that even Murphy, Margot Robbie, and Tom Cruise have publicly endorsed it.