Homer’s “The Odyssey” doesn’t seem like the stuff of summer blockbusters, but it is thanks to director Christopher Nolan.
Nolan is able to make a classic accessible for a contemporary audience. He pulls us into the epic journey and makes us care until (spoiler alert) Odysseus is back home. That doesn’t happen, however, until the war hero (played by a buff Matt Damon) and his crew have encountered everything from one-eyed giants to stormy seas.
At home, his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) has to fend off plenty of suitors, determined to declare Odysseus dead. Son Telemachus (Tom Holland) has his goals, too, but both are convinced the scheming Antinous (the sharp, sly Robert Pattinson) must be kept at bay.
Penelope (Anne Hathaway, left) and Telemachus (Tom Holland) are left in charge of a crumbling castle as devious suitors wear their last nerves.
While traveling, Odysseus and company encounter Circe (Samantha Morton), an enchantress who has the ability to silence men and hog the spotlight. She’s a surprise who gives “The Odyssey” a boost just when it seems like this is going to be the second installment of “The Lord of the Rings.”
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Like Peter Jackson, Nolan knows how to do drama on a big scale. He doesn’t drag things out just to make his film seem bigger than it is. Acting, as a result, is sparing. Damon is the only one who gets the kind of scenes that add up, but John Leguizamo supports nicely as Odysseus’ blind servant. He helps in those latter scenes and has Holland’s back, even when others don’t.
Zendaya, Charlize Theron and Lupita Nyong’o glide through scenes with varying success but don’t leave much of an impression. Had Nolan wanted to extend “The Odyssey,” here’s where he could have beefed things up. Oddly, everyone has an American accent in the film. Why, we have no idea.
L to R: Matt Damon is Odysseus and Zendaya is Athena in THE ODYSSEY, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.
Still, the action scenes — and those harrowing boat trips — offer plenty of excitement and a sense of journey.
Damon’s Odysseus soldiers on despite ominous signs. He’s warned repeatedly but won’t stop. Because Nolan doesn’t rely on special effects to pull off scenes (when they’re at sea, they’re actually rowing), they crackle. Even better, the time in the Trojan horse reminds you of Nolan’s “Dunkirk” and those claustrophobic boat moments.
A filmmaker who would have soared in the 1950s, Nolan knows how to find intimacy in widescale scenes. He has a “Ben Hur” scope that never erases his 21st-century emotions.
Interestingly, all of the stars recall early high points in their careers (see if you don’t recognize a little “Les Misérables” in Hathaway’s work) and justify why they’d accept cameo roles in a sprawling picture.
“The Odyssey” lives up to its reputation and cements Nolan’s reputation as the master of bold moves. It’s a stunner that deserves the three hours it takes to unfold.
