From the (Sub) stacks: 'The Odyssey' Review
Well. This one’s for the boys. At everyone else’s expense, in a way only Nolan could bring.
The time is more than right for an adaptation of the classic Greek tale, and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey aims to bring the ancient to the present, hailing from its obvious inspirations in the Hollywood heyday of epic dramas (with a spectacular cast to prove it) while firmly grounding it in our present moment. If that includes a kind of confusion as to what that moment means, it also speaks to the simultaneous complexity and simplicity of our times, and how the boys (the film bros) often respond.
Odysseus (Matt Damon, giving all the tortured soul vibes) has been away from his beloved kingdom Ithaca and his queen Penelope (a steely yet vulnerable Anne Hathaway) for a total of 20 years - ten spent fighting the Trojan War, and the other ten in a no less perilous battle to make his way home. As all hope for the return of the king has gradually faded, suitors have gathered (led by Robert Pattinson absolutely oozing lecherous sleaze), vying for widow and throne. It’s not the safest of situations for Odysseus’s son Telemachus (a blandly appealing Tom Holland) either, whose status as heir represents a serious obstacle for the ambitions of those lusting for his birthright.
It should be something of an extravaganza, but Nolan is known for keeping his cool even in his more emotional storylines. Still, the brooding despair in Damon’s eyes as he contemplates the horrors of the war he helped win, the brutality he witnesses in his present time, and a civilization crumbling from foes they’re barely able to name, let alone fight, is exactly the type of male angst which by now almost seems to exist for Nolan’s particular set of skills.
