TMS Movie Review: The Odyssey

(Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures)

Homer’s The Odyssey is one of those classic tales that Hollywood has struggled to properly adapt over the past century. There was Mario Camerini’s Ulysses (1954) starring Kirk Douglas; Andrei Konchalovsky’s 1997 two-part mini-series “The Odyssey” for NBC; and even the Joel & Ethan Coen’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) as a retelling set in the Great Depression era south, to name a few projects. But a full scale, proper adaptation of The Odyssey was always considered much too epic and expensive for a single film. That is until one of the biggest blockbuster makers in the business, Christopher Nolan, took up the challenge to tackle the story right off the mega success of his docudrama Oppenheimer (2023).

As every high schooler will remember, The Odyssey is about mythical Greek hero Odysseus’ (Matt Damon) long, episodic quest to return to his homeland of Ithaca after surviving the Trojan War. During his adventurous journey, Odysseus and his remaining soldiers must fend off dangerous creatures like a giant cyclops known as Polyphemus, treacherous sea storms, fatal sirens, and the witchy Circe (Samantha Morton); while his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) rejects numerous suitors who want to take Odysseus’ place on the throne, and their son Telemachus (Tom Holland) leaves home to try to find the truth on what happened to his father.

Robert Pattinson, John Leguizamo, Zendaya, Himesh Patel, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Mia Goth, Elliot Page and Lupita Nyong’o make up some of the big names in the ensemble cast of The Odyssey; while Nolan regulars behind the scenes like his producer and wife Emma Thomas, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, editor Jennifer Lame, and composer Ludwig Göransson return.

(Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures)

Much like Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy (2005-2012), The Odyssey tones down some of the fantastical elements of its source for his familiar, grounded realistic style. To be honest, I’ve never been in love with Homer’s story and am mainly neutral on Nolan as a director, so I thought this was just fine. It’s technically seamless [save for some shots that bizarrely look out of focus], paced smoothly, and the artistic choice to have everyone speak with modern vernacular and American accents was interesting and unique. Morton, Leguizamo and Pattinson are the standouts in the cast, and with all the attention on Nyong’o and Page during the promo, both are surprisingly closer to cameos than actual supporting roles. But generally, this isn’t my type of costume piece, and I don’t think I’m the target audience. But, considering how high the ratings are on movie scoring sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and Letterboxd, and the reports of the film already flying up the box-office charts, I think it’s safe to say we have another hit to add to this summer. Like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, Nolan is almost a brand as much as an auteur, and can attract packed theater screenings based on name recognition alone. The Odyssey is no exception.

Editor note: This is a reminder that e-mailed responses to my articles are still being sent to my inbox’s spam folder. If you would like to share something with me, you can currently message me directly on Substack or upgrade to a paid account and leave a comment under the article you’re reading. ✏️

Editor note 2: If you enjoy reading my newsletter, please consider upgrading to a monthly or yearly paid subscription. If you don’t feel comfortable committing to an annual payment, you can also send a donation to my PayPal account instead. Since this is currently my main source of income creatively, it would be greatly appreciated and very helpful. Thank you again for your time and support of The Meggie Sue. 😊