J. Robert Oppenheimer was a brilliant scientist who primarily devoloped the Atomic Bomb and helped America defeat the Japanese and win World War II. In return, due to his keeping of communist associates, the United States government stripped him of his security clearance in an embarrasing trial which resembled a kangaroo court. The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer is a fascinating look at the life of a very strange and gifted man who science and intelligence seemed to come to naturally, but couldn't keep an even keel in his personal life, particularly with the kinds of women he kept. David Straithairn plays Oppenheimer in exact recreations of the trial, in a very fine performance of another chain smoking Cold War figure, following his brilliant portrayal of Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck. The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer is an excellent historical look at an intriguing and complex life.
