Christopher Nolan’s attempt to recreate the fantasy action epic in The Odyssey delivers on its promise of grand spectacle, yet poor casting and odd creative decisions undercuts what should have been a transformative cinema experience.
There is a moment in George Stevens’ star-studded 1965 bible epic The Greatest Story Ever Told where a Roman centurion played by John Wayne looks up at the crucified Jesus and says in his infamous cowboy drawl: “Truly, this man was the song of God”. It is one of many infamous eye-rolling moments in the film that reminds of the adage: casting is everything.
The Odyssey begins with its own head scratching moment when hip-hop star Travis Scott entertains an audience of would-be suitors to the throne of Ithaca with the tale of Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his heroics during the Trojan War. Next comes an appearance by Elliot (formerly Ellen) Page as soldier Sinon, who is described later in the film by Odysseus as "the bravest man I know" (which comes across more of a political point than a narrative one.)
It’s all part and parcel of director Christopher Nolan’s (Oppenheimer) attempt to remake the classic swords and sandals epic with modern-day sensibilities towards casting and storytelling, with The Odyssey remarkable in craft yet unconvincing in its Shonda Rhimes (Bridgerton) influenced equity worldmaking. Yet that is not the only problem The Odyssey faces.
Based on The Iliad by ancient-Greek poet Homer, The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca who after the decade long Trojan War sails off with his men in a perilous journey home in which they encounter all matter of beast and supernatural being. In Ithaca, meanwhile, Odysseus’ grown son Telemachus (Tom Holland) attempts to hold off numerous suitors – particularly the cunning and sinister Antinous (Robert Pattinson) - vying for the hand of his mother and queen Penelope (Anne Hathaway.)
These parallel storylines result in a tale of two movies, with the adventures of Odysseus the better of the two. Nolan gets to flex those epic-cinema muscles of his during varied action-adventure sequences that range from awe-inspiring to terrifying, with Odysseus’ encounters with one-eyed giant Polyphemus (Bill Irwin) and witch Circe (Samantha Morten) pure nightmare fuel that showcases Nolan’s talent for horror filmmaking.
As Odysseus, Damon is a commanding presence who brings a stirring humanity to a leader of men whose ego-induced actions leads to a seeking of atonement for his part in bringing disorder to the world.
Damon, unfortunately, is one of a few bright spots in a star-studded cast who fail to convince in their portrayals of these mythical Greek legends: Anne Hathaway is insufferable as the perpetually weepy Penelope whose screw-face dramatics reminds of her Saturday Night Live impression of Claire Danes in Homeland; Jon Bernthal’s urban tough-guy shtick is annoyingly distracting as Spartan king Menelaus; Charlize Theron seems to have walked on the Odyssey set straight from her perfume ads as Calypso; and John Leguiziamo proves you can take the man out of Brooklyn but you can’t take Brooklyn out of the man.
A lot of the blame for these poor performances is on Nolan’s odd creative decisions. American accents have been used in many Hollywood historical/mythological epics ranging from Spartacus to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The style in which Nolan utilises both accent and dialogue tinged with modern day-isms, though, is a constant barrier from buying into filmmaking that spared no expense in replicating a mythical past only to have its carefully constructed world crumble one post-modern brick at a time.
The result is a film made for the sensibilities of this time rather than a film that is timeless.
