FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY
A film review by Kevin Romano
Copyright 1989 Kevin Romano
It is said that after the Pythagoreans of ancient Greece discovered the existence of irrational numbers they sought to keep it secret from the general population. Apparently because it contradicted their entire philosophical view of the universe. One story has it that they murdered a member of their own sect, Hippasus, for telling outsiders the secret. (See footnote 1.)
A good portion of FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY is frittered away recalling just such secrecy as it regarded the development of the first atomic weapons. The title refers to the names of the two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and, by extension I suppose, to the two main characters in the film, J. Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie R. Groves. If any film story ever deserved to be treated in epic proportions, surely it must be this one. But FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY is no epic. To describe it succinctly, this movie's production fits like Mickey Rooney's suit on Hulk Hogan. It has a lot on nicely framed cinematography, a couple of inspired moments of lighting and screenwriting, a journeyman performance by Paul Newman, and little else to recommend it.
The problems are numerous. John Cusack is miscast as a scientist. He looks and acts more like a high school senior. There are no characters for whom to root. In fact, J. Robert Oppenheimer is portrayed as a sort of egomaniacal Commie psychopath who beguiles himself by his own seeming technical omnipotence. General Groves, the Pentagon man assigned to oversee the project, would have been better named General Gross for this picture. He has all the moral finesse of some of the members of Ronald Reagan's regime. The part is, however, well-rendered by Paul Newman. There are many seemingly insignificant details that do this movie in. For instance, the recent addition to the language the word 'bimbo' is used. Remember this story takes place in the early forties. Yogi Berra's oft-quoted statement, "It ain't over till it's over," had not yet been uttered, much less popularized. Modern looking diesel locomotives had not yet completely replaced steam engines. I myself can remember going from Boston to Chicago with my mother in 1947 on a train with a steam engine that had to be replaced at night because it was so loud it kept people awake in the sleeper cars. And the gigantic trainyards at Erie Pennsylvania were chock full of steam giants with nary a diesel to be seen. The score for this film, by Ennio Morricone, at one point makes a line of trucks, meant, I suppose, to portray the earnestness of the project, look ludicrous. The material itself just does not lend itself to anything less than epic proportions. For one reason it is an historical drama. We all know how the story turns out. This removed the crucial element of suspense from the film. But nothing stepped in to take its place, no characters to root for, no convincing love interests, not even any emotional range - which goes from mad to angry and back. A film should definitely have a greater emotional range than a mother-in-law. :-)
The production itself is expensive and authentic, except for what was previously noted. The drama in the production is "Who cares!" If it weren't for the fact that these awesome weapons still threaten us today, I don't think anyone would have any reason at all to go see this film, except if maybe you be an inveterate Paul Newman fan, or your mother-in-law has announced she's coming over.
Catch this one on cable and save your money for something more important like a six-pack and TV wrestling on Saturday night.
1 About Mathematics
Richard S. Hall
Prentice Hall, Inc.
Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1973
Page 120
--Kevin Romano
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