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DVD Fat Man and Little Boy
Despite the combined star power in front of and behind the camera, Fat Man and Little Boy is a largely tepid retelling of the history of the Manhattan Project, the atomic testing project that led to the U.S. bombing of Japan during World War II (said bombs were dubbed "Fat Man" and "Little Boy"). The Nevada-based project is headed by General Leslie R. Groves (a testy Paul Newman) and scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Dwight Schultz of the TV series The A-Team), who later regretted his cooperation in the project. The problem with the film lies not with the acting, which includes solid performances by Bonnie Bedelia, Laura Dern, John Cusack, and future U.S. Senator Fred Dalton Thompson, but with the script by director Roland Joffé and Bruce Robinson (Withnail and I and Joffé's The Killing Fields). A subject as morally complex as the creation of a supreme weapon requires a strong and thoughtful script, but Fat Man and Little Boy never gets further than establishing that indeed, atomic power is something to reckon with. Joseph Sargent's 1989 made-for-TV film Day One, with Brian Dennehy as Groves and David Straithairn as Oppenheimer, covers the same story with twice the depth and avoids the pitfall of a romantic subplot (Oppenheimer's dalliance with a communist played by Natasha Richardson), which this film stumbles into. Cusack's doomed scientist is actually a combination of two real-life physicists, Harry Daghlian and Louis Slotkin, who died from radiation poisoning, albeit long after V-J Day. --Paul Gaita
A well-acted, first-rate feature on an intensely interesting time in history. Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz and John Cusack do excellent work. I would think only anti-nuclear or 'opposed to war at any price' persons need a more morally complex or in-depth treatment of the subject. Some of the scientists were concerned, some were distraught, while others were ecstatic about their accomplishment. It's all apparent enough. There are few moral absolutes during wartime, and few scientists now or then let public inhibitions get in their way.
A great film about the Manhatten Project
If you want a good introduction to Americas bid to become a Nuclear Power in order to win the Second World war, well here you go. I feel that it (This film) showed the inner conflicts and debates of the project was fairly & intelligently represented. Paul Newman was a great Leslie Grove even though Groves was a much bigger sized man physically. Oppenheimer was also well depicted as the very complex and driven man that he was. Well done to all hands on a very complex and controversial subject.
An emotionally moving historical novel
"The world is not what we wanted it to be." So says Dr. Oppenheimer to his wife, late in the film. Oppenheimer's optimism and scientific idealism are only one small casualty of the pursuit of the atomic bomb; we see several others through the course of the film. The fears of that time -- especially of Communism -- cause Oppenheimer's own credibility to be always in doubt in the eyes of the military, and his Communist-sympathizing mistress almost inevitably becomes another casualty of these forces.
The scientist Michael Merriman (actually a composite of a few real-life characters; try looking up "Louis Slotin" in your favorite search engine) asks whether it is more instinctive in humans to save life or to destroy it. This becomes one of the central themes of the film. Merriman twice heroically saves the lives of others, but the second time receives a lethal exposure to radiation himself in the process. I have read comments in other reviews that Merriman's (fictional) romance with a nurse at the base hospital was unnecessary and too contrived, but I think that this sort of dramatic element helps provide an emotional context for the bomb's direct and indirect victims; also, Merriman's ultimately tragic romance parallels that of Oppenheimer with his "security-risk" mistress.
This film touches on many of the issues of the creation of the atomic bomb: the logistical challenges, the personal and moral and political challenges. These multiple issues are treated more or less equally, and none is really treated in depth at the expense of the others. Some viewers may regard this lack of depth as a liability, but I think the overall balance is good.
The dramatic quality (acting, writing, etc.) of the film is also generally good, with a few faults. (There is the occasional bit of weak dialogue, but honestly, for my part, I did not find the few less-than-stellar lines distracting when I saw the film the first time, and neither do they leap out at me when I watch it again now. Some people may be more irritated by that sort of thing than I.) Oppenheimer (Dwight Schultz) and General Groves (Paul Newman) are both very strong in their roles, and they naturally are the ones who would make or break the movie.
So, overall, I think that this film is a good film. I don't mean that to sound flippant. I mean that it is a good story, a good drama, one that captures the emotional tensions, fears, and moral doubts of the period. What it is definitely NOT is a historically-accurate documentary, but I don't think it was ever trying to be. Documentaries are certainly important too, but they are plentiful and easily had elsewhere. (Try the History Channel or your local library.) In some ways, Fat Man and Little Boy resembles the blockbuster movie Pearl Harbor, which also fictionalized quite a bit to show the emotional impact of the historical events on the people involved.
Fat Man and Little Boy is a film I personally own, enjoy and recommend.
Jon Else's Oscar-nominated documentary is a gem. He tells the story of the creation of the first atomic bomb, through the story of the amazing man who was picked to head up the project. J. Robert Oppenheimer would be a renaissance man in any time, but his presence during WWII and the Cold War afterwards, and his own doomed role in these world history events, makes him a tragic hero. Intelligent beyond comprehension, literate, poetic, charming, and dedicated (both to science and humanity), the experience of WWII's horror diverted his life on a collision course with history. Else's film is poignant, touching, restrained, and ultimately moving. Made in 1979, he was fortunate to be able to interview many of "Oppie's" colleagues, friends, and his brother Frank (who started another,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jon Else DVD Release Date: Released the 14 May 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Directed and cowritten by Woody Allen collaborator Marshall Brickman, this comedy-thriller doesn't seem to know where it wants to go or what it wants to say (other than, obviously, nuclear weapons are scary things). Christopher Collet plays an overachieving high school student who decides to show just how dangerously easy it is to construct a nuclear device. He builds one for his science fair, using his mother's relationship with a government official (John Lithgow) to sneak into a secret facility and steal plutonium. When the feds find out what's going on, they overreact in a brutish showdown that threatens nuclear annihilation of everyone within a 10-mile radius. While the movie makes some antinuke points and features a strong performance by Lithgow, it seems a little too breezy, given... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Lithgow - Christopher Collet Director(s): Marshall Brickman DVD Release Date: Released the 04 June 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Director Stanley Kramer's socially conscious 1961 film tackles the subject of the war crime trials arising out of World War II in an earnest and straightforward fashion, exploring the consciousness of two nations as they struggle to come to terms with the aftermath of the Holocaust. Spencer Tracy plays the American judge selected to head the tribunal that will try the suspected war criminals. As he sets about his task, he must confront the raw emotion felt by the German people, and his own notions of good and evil, right and wrong. Regarded as a classic, this stark rendering of one of the most pivotal events in the 20th century features a stellar cast including Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Marlene Dietrich, a young William Shatner, and Maximillian Schell, who won an Oscar for his... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Spencer Tracy - Burt Lancaster - Richard Widmark Director(s): Stanley Kramer DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Dramas based upon the cold war have a long history stretching back to the 50s. Most of the good ones were from early in the era. This one comes from near the end but it is a surprising good one.
The story is fairly predictable. Because of a misunderstanding, a nuclear conflict is initiated. There are various opportunities to draw things back but, because of a few bloodthirsty types, usually in US, the conflict continues to escalate and the horror continues to increase.
The show continues a few stereotypes:
Pilots are self centered and vain.
Women don't have the commitment to accomplish a hard mission.
The atomic bomb changed the world forever, and this wonderful film shows how Americans expressed wonder over atomic weapons and then suffered from the pervasive fear that America would be on the receiving end of a Soviet nuclear attack. Atomic Cafe is a brilliant compilation of archival film clips beginning with the first atomic bomb detonation in the New Mexico desert. The footage, much of it produced as government propaganda, follows the story of the bomb through the two atomic attacks on Japan that ended World War II to the bomb's central role in the cold war. Shown along with the famous "duck and cover" Civil Defense films are lesser-known clips, many of which possess a bizarre black humor when seen today, and it's easy to see why this film, which was produced in the early... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jayne Loader - Pierce Rafferty - Kevin Rafferty (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 26 March 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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