The Odyssey

Grade: B

When I was in seventh grade, my class took a day trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We packed four of the city’s best-known attractions into one day, in this order: the aquarium, the Incline Railway, Rock City, and Ruby Falls. Some of you reading this were there with me that day. As I remember it, they got better and better. After each stop, I found myself thinking, “That was pretty cool. I wonder how the next one is going to top it.”

That day came back to me while watching Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. There’s a reason why “Odyssey” has entered our vernacular as a term to describe an epic, lengthy journey with highs, lows, ebbs, and flows. The movie unfolds almost like a series of chapters, each built around another remarkable encounter. Just when one adventure ends, another begins. There is the Cyclops. Then the Trojan Horse. Then Samantha Morton’s memorable sequence. Then the Sirens. More than once, I found myself thinking less about where the story was headed than about what incredible set piece Nolan had waiting around the next corner.

The Odyssey inspired more admiration than affection, even though many of its individual chapters are unforgettable. This is definitely from the director of Oppenheimer. The ambition, scale, and sheer confidence behind the filmmaking are unmistakable. I was hopeful in the beginning, as Nolan jumps back and forth through time without it ever feeling confusing or disorienting. He structures it like one long symphony, with the score continuing underneath, serving as the thread connecting each scene and each quick cut.

Nolan doesn’t ignore the real-life touches and logistical issues that would come up if these events were to actually happen. The men are hiding in this Trojan Horse for days. They have to take care of biological needs, and some of them drown. Talk about competing stenches. The Cyclops isn’t a one-dimensional archetypal villain. When they injure him, his expressive face and personality show true pain. He may have been a threat to the lives of our heroes, but he’s also just a guy who was trying to protect his cave.

The earplugs that I wear at concerts came to me in a case with a keychain attachment, so I have them on me at all times. I never thought I’d need them for anything besides a concert, but I pulled them out during certain scenes here. This is a loud movie, but the volume doesn’t make it any less well done. The sea storm scene is the best such sequence I’ve ever seen in a film. I felt like I was there with them.

Though this won’t make my top ten list, nor will it be in my Best Picture Oscar hopes list, there are three performances that I would absolutely nominate. Anne Hathaway as Odysseus’s wife Penelope is an obvious one that will come up. As Antinous, Robert Pattinson succeeds as a slimy, hateable villain while also giving us traces of the innocent nice guy he may have started out as. As Odysseus, Matt Damon wouldn’t have come to mind due to his age and the physique changes that happen to many of us as we get older and our metabolism goes bye-bye. However, he lost weight, got in shape, and carries the movie perfectly in a thoroughly believable performance.

Samantha Morton is terrifying in her one scene, transforming the men in a most unique way. John Leguizamo adds another worthy turn to his career renaissance that I’ve enjoyed watching these last four years. Lupita Nyong’o plays two roles, harkening back to the memorable double duty she pulled in Jordan Peele’s Us. A deep supporting cast including Benny Safdie, Himesh Patel, Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, Elliot Page, and Zendaya fills out the world, though some make stronger impressions than others.

Otherwise, unlike that day in Chattanooga, where each attraction built on and improved upon the last, The Odyssey had me weaving in and out of engagement. It would lose me, then gain me back with a great sequence, then possibly lose me again.

By the time we get to the prodigal father’s return home, followed by the final fight scene, I was ready for it to be wrapped up, as much as I loved several individual parts. I’m realizing that Nolan’s films will present two potential boxes to check: admiration of the craft, and actual enjoyment of the movie itself. Oppenheimer checked off both boxes with ink. I can see myself returning to Oppenheimer again and again, to get more from it with each rewatch.

If you have a conversation with me about The Odyssey, my comments will lean more toward “Wasn’t that amazing that they pulled off something like this?” rather than “This was a great film.”

Grade: B