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I have now seen Oppenheimer twice. It’s great. It’s my top movie of the year. Any film yet to be released will be hard pressed to best it. Sorry, Scorsese, you’re playing for silver. Part of what makes the movie so good is the incredible cast. I’m not going to include Cillian Murphy, the star, Robert Downey Jr., a likely Oscar winner with the clear top supporting role, or Matt Damon, because he’s Matt Damon, but here are my five favorite supporting performances from Oppenheimer.
5. Tom Conti
There are some famous faces in Oppenheimer, but none more so than Albert Einstein. Conti is decked out to look like a famous person more than anybody other than Gary Oldman as Harry Truman, but it is still a performance. It’s not merely Einstein cosplay from Conti. He does good work and manages to avoid being overshadowed by the person he’s playing.
4. Casey Affleck
Affleck was one of the guys I had no idea was in the film. He just appears out of nowhere as Boris Pash. I don’t know who Pash is. That doesn’t matter. It’s clear that Pash is a scary guy. The colonel is a rabid anti-Communist, and he’s on the hunt. Affleck doesn’t raise his voice at all, but he gets his menace across. He intimidates Oppenheimer. It’s a gripping scene.
3. Jason Clarke
Clarke plays the attorney Roger Robb, and he gives a Clarke style performance. If you don’t know what I mean, he plays Jerry West on Winning Time. Clarke yells and is angry, but he’s so dynamic and compelling when he does that. He’s a lawyer in a small, non-descript room, and he makes it feel massive.
2. Josh Hartnett
This was a real surprise for me. One, Harnett looks a little different these days, so I didn’t recognize him. Two, I’ve never thought of him as a great actor, but he’s stellar as Ernest Lawrence. I watched Oppenheimer the first time thinking, “This guy is so good!” Then, I looked at the cast and thought, “That was Josh Hartnett!?” Maybe this will be big for him. I hope so. I’d like more Hartnett now.
1. David Krumholtz
Krumholtz has been acting since he was a kid, and he’s been a TV star on shows like Numb3rs. Now, though, he’s settled into being an excellent character actor. His turn as Isidor Rabi is likely his best work yet. Now, as I said, Downey Jr. is probably going to be winning Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars, and that’s the direction I would go in. Krumholtz, though, is worth a nomination as well.
