IMDb > Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
Fat Man and Little Boy
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Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) More at IMDbPro »

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Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) -- This film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret wartime project in New Mexico where the first atomic bombs were designed and built.
Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)
Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) -- CineMagia.ro - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   2,794 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Roland Joffé
Writers (WGA):
Bruce Robinson (story)
Bruce Robinson (screenplay) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Fat Man and Little Boy on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 October 1989 (USA) more
Genre:
Biography | Drama | History | War more
Tagline:
The story of the extraordinary people who changed our world.
Plot:
This film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret wartime project in New Mexico where the first atomic bombs were designed and built. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
2 nominations more
User Comments:
Weird and Compelling more (35 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Paul Newman ... Gen. Leslie R. Groves
Dwight Schultz ... J. Robert Oppenheimer

Bonnie Bedelia ... Kitty Oppenheimer

John Cusack ... Michael Merriman

Laura Dern ... Kathleen Robinson
Ron Frazier ... Peter de Silva

John C. McGinley ... Capt. Richard Schoenfield, MD

Natasha Richardson ... Jean Tatlock
Ron Vawter ... Jamie Latrobe
Michael Brockman ... William 'Deke' Parsons
Del Close ... Dr. Kenneth Whiteside
John Considine ... Robert Tuckson

Allan Corduner ... Franz Goethe (as Alan Corduner)
Joe D'Angerio ... Seth Neddermeyer (as Joseph D'Angerio)
Jon DeVries ... Johnny Mount (as Jon De Vries)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Shadow Makers (UK)
more
Runtime:
127 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby
Filming Locations:
Durango, Mexico more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Roland Joffé cast numerous real-life scientists, including future Nobel Prize winner David Politzer, in small speaking and background roles. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: The telegram to Oppenheimer states that Dr. Jean Tatlock committed suicide 5 January 1945. She actually committed suicide a year earlier, in January 1944. more
Quotes:
Gen. Leslie R. Groves: I want three stories. The first, if we succeed. The second, if we fail. The third, if we disintegrate. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Simpsons: Fat Man and Little Boy (#16.5)" (2004) more
Soundtrack:
Brown jug swing more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful.
Weird and Compelling, 24 November 2004
7/10
Author: pswitzertatum from Portland, Oregon, USA

This is a weird and compelling film. The topic, about the atom bombs created at Los Alamos, NM in the USA and used on Japan during the latter part of World War II, is huge, and of course deeply disturbing. The film's plot takes on a lot of heavy issues and the actors have to carry much of the creative tension. I had never seen the film, or was much interested in it I have to admit, until I read the book "Smoking in Bed: Conversations with Bruce Robinson." Robinson wrote the story and screenplay. I think the film was better than I expected from reading Robinson's point of view in the conversations about it, but I can see how he thought it got derailed. I think Paul Newman is pretty good, but is somehow at bottom, miscast. He's too Hollywood. At one point, a big, mean-looking guy storms into Newman's office and has such a striking presence, I immediately thought he should be playing the character Newman is playing. The other lead, who plays the head scientist, is also fairly good, but somehow not brilliant enough to portray the huge angst that goes with the part - the immense responsibility for creation of an ultimate machine of death and destruction. One of the more effective characters seems to be a composite personality, played by John Cusack. He is oddly affecting throughout, and in the end, is the character whose fate really hits home and who made me think most vividly of the fate of more than 200,000 Japanese people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
60 years later, any thoughts? rsuriyop
soundtrack marcodeleon8
Paul Newman/General Groves captchas-1
Something I tried to explain... deadeye78
Not a physicist... franzenfolk
Is Kevin Tighe in this movie? rdbzhch-1
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