Fancy Movie Monday: The Odyssey!

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a powerful epic that prompts us to ask difficult questions, questions that may not have answers.

Questions like, Who were the Sea People?

And

How did Matt Damon avoid being cast as Ulysses in Troy, that ill-fated 2004 movie?

Damon didn’t dodge Troy because he was busy with Ocean’s Twelve, that didn’t help Brad Pitt. It wasn’t because he was busy being Bourne again1. And it wasn’t because Christopher Nolan didn’t direct Troy 2.

It was because the cult of Christopher Nolan didn’t exist yet.

In 2004, Christopher Nolan was already considered an auteur by many. There was much speculation that his decision to take over the decimated Batman franchise would tarnish his reputation. But as we all know, the opposite came true.

Amazingly, his departure from Batman and all superhero movies had no adverse effects on his popularity. Increasingly, he has been seen as cinema’s last hope. The wunderkind who trumps all CGI with IMAX cinematography.

Other directors have fans, but fans generally expect a specific type of movie and react poorly when they don’t receive it. Christopher Nolan doesn’t have fans, he has devotees. They love whatever he makes, because he made it. So of course, Matt Damon is stuck playing Ulysses this time. He cannot risk the wrath of the faithful.

If you think I’m exaggerating, go ahead and spend anywhere from 5 minutes to an entire week reading the copious rave reviews on Substack or Letterboxd. You can also watch them on YouTube or TikTok. Make it a game! See if you find any reviews that don’t praise Nolan like an Olympian deity. Do you suppose people would be reacting like this if The Odyssey was directed by Olivia Wilde?3

Obviously, it isn’t just critics who feel this way. In just two weeks, the Odyssey has grossed over 900 million dollars4.

That’s very impressive, but the movie’s considerable unfair advantages should be taken into account, notably playing on 25,600 screens globally, exclusively securing all commercially available Imax screens for three weeks and having no new Hollywood releases to compete with for two weekends. The latter detail is pretty much unheard of during the summer blockbuster season.

All of this has me nervous. Could The Odyssey be a dress rehearsal for a dystopia where only one Hollywood film is released at a time?

I know, that is an absurdly pessimistic way to view this movie. Besides, it’s not like I didn’t enjoy it5.

I liked the Odyssey.

I didn’t love it, but I liked it. The scene in Hades was great and so was the battle with the Laestrygonians, (on the poster at the start of this review) and the Trojan horse looked so much better here than the one in the 2004 movie did.

Nolan has made a lot of really strong casting choices. Lupita Nyong’o is great in the dual role of Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy, Samantha Morton is fantastic as Circe, Jon Bernthal does a really good job playing Menelaus as the petty, grotesque thug he was.

Many of the movie stars in the cast have clearly been directed to play themselves rather than act. This isn’t a failing on their part or Nolan’s, it’s a cynical requirement for a blockbuster that has to pull in as much money as possible. So it must be said that Anne Hathaway does a fantastic job playing Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson is very good as Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland is great as Peter Parker, seriously, his accent’s flawless.

But for better or for worse, Matt Damon is not playing Matt Damon. His take on Ulysses is interesting. He spends most of the movie confused and depressed. It works at times, notably during his affair with Calypso (Charlize Theron), but it also hampers the audience from accepting him as the leader of this ‘odyssey’. When he gives his men orders, they sound like guesses. When his men confront him about poor decisions or lying, which they frequently do, he shrugs and makes a ‘whaddya gonna do?’ face. When he’s alone, which he frequently is, the story feels much less urgent and engaging.

The depressed tone was probably Nolan’s idea. The script is constantly making references to the end of civilization and a looming dark age. Nolan even goes as far as to work ‘The Sea People’ into the plot.

I realize ‘The Sea People’ totally sound like characters from a Greek myth, but they aren’t. They are historical figures active between 1200 to 1150 BCE, which is also the approximate time The Odyssey takes place

The Sea People were a nomadic navy composed of pirates known for two things.

1. Leading repeated raids on Greece, Canaan and Egypt that were so brutal and relentless they triggered a dark age

2. Being of unknown origin. The Sea People must have come from some tribe, nation or empire, but historians have never been able to figure out where.

The Sea People are actually in this movie as a potential threat to Ulysses. Many characters express great concern over what could happen to Ithaca if the Sea People get there before Ulysses returns. Eventually, Nolan even offers a theory on who exactly the Sea People are.

It’s all part of the movie’s very sincere pessimism. None of the characters ever turn to the camera and say “Just so you know, your society is falling into a dark age too.” but that’s very obviously the message.

The Odyssey is a fun summer movie, full of sexy movie stars, special effects and clever visual metaphors. But if the goal was to create something more enduring and critical, I think Nolan should’ve made this film a comedy.

He should’ve cast Pete Davidson as Ulysses, Miriam Margolyes as Circe and Charli XCX as all three of the Sirens.