re: Just watched Oppenheimer for the first time at home

Friend,

There is no real comparison between Barbie and Oppenheimer. I saw both three times at the theater. Barbie gets better each time. It is a profoundly, delicately and ingeniously crafted jeremiad that is perfectly acted and hits the mark with seriousness and comedy in a way I cannot remember any film ever has. Oppenheimer is a decent biopic that is not particularly skillfully told. Its acting is forgettable.

Barbie will be studied as a film in the next generation for its approach to the topics of justice and gender relations. Oppenheimer, even with its serious subject, will not be discussed in 30 years because it has not added knowledge or a new way of viewing the atom bomb. The first time watching Oppenheimer was enjoyable. The second time a chore. The third was nearly torturous. It was the exact opposite with Barbie. What a rich and well told and hilarious tale. I did not expect to enjoy it even in the slightest; it was the surprise of the year. And if Gossling doesn’t win for best actor, that will be a discredit to the Academy.

Yours,
TulaneLSU