History Film / FatManAndLittleBoy

-->''Robert, must we go so fast?''
-->''Yes! YES!''

''Fat Man And Little Boy'' is a 1989 [[HistoricalFiction historical drama]] directed by Roland Joffe.

* CompositeCharacter: Michael Merriman is a composite of two Los Alamos physicists, Harry Daghlian and Louis Slotin. Both died because of experiments with the Demon Core, as Merriman is in the movie.

* TheProudElite: Oppenheimer has shades of this, especially early on; however, the military men seem to expect it from the physicists much more than the physicists actually act that way. See TallPoppySyndrome below.

* TheProudElite: Oppenheimer has shades of this, especially early on; however, the military men seem to expect it from the physicists much more than it's actually presented. See TallPoppySyndrome below.

* TheProudElite: Oppenheimer has shades of this, especially early on; however, the military men seem to expect it from the physicists much more than it's actually presented.

* Foil: General Groves is a gruff, staunchly conservative SelfMadeMan, while Oppenheimer is an amiable [[TheProfessor physics professor]] who occasionally hangs out with [[RedScare card-carrying Communists]]. They find that they need each other to make the atomic bomb project work.

* ManipulativeBastard: Both Groves and Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer opines early on that he'll have Groves eating out of hand within a week, but if anything, Groves manipulates Oppenheimer more successfully than vice versa.

* CompositeCharacter: Michael Merriman is a composite of two Los Alamos physicists, Harry Daghlian and Louis Slotin. Both were killed because of experiments with the Demon Core, as Merriman is in the movie.

* BrainsEvilBrawnGood: Groves' aide opines that Oppenheimer "has more brains than are decent".

* ButtMonkey: Dr.Schoenfield (John C. [=McGinley=]) just can't catch a break.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Merriman doesn't hesitant to run into danger during an explosives accident early in the movie, prefiguring his accident with the Demon Core.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Merriman doesn't hesitant to run into danger during an explosives accident, prefiguring his accident with the Demon Core.

In the early days of American involvement in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, General Leslie Groves (Creator/PaulNewman) finishes his assignment to build the Pentagon and hopes to go fight in the Pacific theater against the Japanese. Instead, he is given a project he doesn't want: the development of [[UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons the atomic bomb]]. To wrangle the scientists, Groves hires UsefulNotes/RobertOppenheimer (Creator/DwightSchultz), a brilliant physicist and administrator who leans more than a little to the left. Groves and Oppenheimer set up a laboratory outside the remote town of Los Alamos, New Mexico and recruit physicists and engineers from all over the US to work on their secret project. One of those recruits is Michael Merriman (Creator/JohnCusack), an idealistic young physics student who narrates much of the film through unsent letters to his father.

In the early days of American involvement in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, General Leslie Groves (Creator/PaulNewman) finishes his assignment to build the Pentagon and hopes to go fight in the Pacific theater against the Japanese. Instead, he is given a project he doesn't want: the development of [[AtomicHate the atomic bomb]]. To wrangle the scientists, Groves hires UsefulNotes/RobertOppenheimer (Creator/DwightSchultz), a brilliant physicist and administrator who leans more than a little to the left. Groves and Oppenheimer set up a laboratory outside the remote town of Los Alamos, New Mexico and recruit physicists and engineers from all over the US to work on their secret project. One of those recruits is Michael Merriman (Creator/JohnCusack), an idealistic young physics student who narrates much of the film through unsent letters to his father.

In the early days of American involvement in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, General Leslie Groves (Creator/PaulNewman) finishes his assignment to build the Pentagon and hopes to go fight in the Pacific theater against the Japanese. Instead, he is given a project he doesn't want: the development of [[WeaponOfMassDestruction the atomic bomb]]. To wrangle the scientists, Groves hires UsefulNotes/RobertOppenheimer (Creator/DwightSchultz), a brilliant physicist and administrator who leans more than a little to the left. Groves and Oppenheimer set up a laboratory outside the remote town of Los Alamos, New Mexico and recruit physicists and engineers from all over the US to work on their secret project. One of those recruits is Michael Merriman (Creator/JohnCusack), an idealistic young physics student who narrates much of the film through unsent letters to his father.

In the early days of American involvement in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, General Leslie Groves (Creator/PaulNewman) finishes his assignment to build the Pentagon and hopes to go fight in the Pacific theater against the Japanese. Instead, he is given a project he doesn't want: the development of [[WeaponOfMassDestruction the atomic bomb]]. To wrangle the scientists, Groves hires J. Robert Oppenheimer (Creator/DwightSchultz), a brilliant physicist and administrator who leans more than a little to the left. Groves and Oppenheimer set up a laboratory outside the remote town of Los Alamos, New Mexico and recruit physicists and engineers from all over the US to work on their secret project. One of those recruits is Michael Merriman (Creator/JohnCusack), an idealistic young physics student who narrates much of the film through unsent letters to his father.

* TheMistress: Jean Tatlock for Oppenheimer. [[DrivenToSuicide It doesn't end well.]]

* ButtMonkey: Dr.Schoenfield (John C. McGinley) just can't catch a break.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The movie is fairly accurate for the most part, but it has its inaccuracies:

* WTHCastingAgency: While Creator/PaulNewman plays Leslie Groves almost perfectly, he ''looks'' very little like the man. Ironically, Fred Dalton Thompson bore a striking resemblance to Groves, but he was instead cast in the [[OneSceneWonder much smaller role]] of General Barry.