Fat Man and Little Boy (VHS, 1992)

First a brief WWII US history lesson:

"Little Boy" is the code name used by the US military for the atomic bomb the US built in a operation called, "The Manhattan Project." Little Boy's atomic explosion devstated Hiroshima, Japan on 8/6/1945.

"Fat Man" is the code name of a similar atomic bomb detonated by the US in Nagasaki, Japan on 8/9/1945.

This film was created to somewhat re-enact events surrounding the US' Manhattan Project in New Mexico, in the summer of 1945, where the first atomic bomb was built & detonated.

In real life, J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Dwight Schultz in this film) was the scientific head of the Manhattan Project. This was the US' top secret WWII development of the atomic bomb. General Leslie Groves (played by Paul Newman) was the military officer in command over the project. What the film strives to achieve is an understanding of these two key figures' relationship. In doing so, the film succeeds, especially due to Paul Newman's outstanding performance.

Newman was a disarmament activist in reality. Playing General Groves, a pro-arms military leader with diapposing perspectives, must have been a challenge to perform so convincingly. Especially since Gen. Groves strove to have a key combat commanding position. The reason Gen. Groves became the military head of the US' atomic bomb building project is due to his education as an engineer.

Dwight Schultz proves by playing J. Robert Oppenheimer that he's among the fine English-speaking actors of his era. J. Robert Oppenheimer was a highly complex man who clearly understood the ramifications of developing atomic energy. However, with WWII devastating far too many civilians, to a genocidal degree, he had to consider what would be the worse of the two evils, more or less: ending a horrific war or beginning the Cold War of the nuclear armaments race between nations?

Do we yet know today what would have been better? Those of us who believe that war is a failure of diplomacy have to recognize that in WWII Hitler was shrewd enough to dupe nearly every diplomat but Sir Winston Churchill, who kept harping upon how dangerous and deceptive Hilter really was long before the Nazi invasion of Poland.

For this film's Oppenheimer, such a conflict is scientifically intriguing as a matter of ethics. Eventually, however, Oppenheimer was associated with left-wing politics & colleagues. Several of the scientists who worked on the atomoic project remained faithfully anti-war activists throughout their lives.

Let's not be dismissive of the fine supporting cast, including the key figure of Jean Tatlock (Natasha Richardson, 1963-May 18th, 2009, 4th generation actor of the Redgrave dynasty, to whom this review is paying homage), who delivers a terrific performance as Robert Oppenheimer's Communist mistress. It was their affair that led to his 'good fortune'. Bonnie Bedelia plays Mrs. Kitty Oppenheimer in an unforgettable style. Laura Dern plays Kathleen Robinson, a nurse at the Los Alamos, New Mexico atomic detonation test site.

This is one of the better depictions of historically accurate events surrounding the controversial development of atomic weaponry, according to those who were actually involved with the project. It is a film worth owning for historical value~