The number of directors who could talk a major Hollywood studio into backing the production of three-hour swords-and-sandals epic based on a nearly almost 2,800-year-old Greek poem can be counted on a single hand.
Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight,” “Interstellar”) convinced Universal the story of the father of the atom bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, would be worthy of a film. Nearly $1 billion at the global box office and seven Oscars later, their bet paid off.
This is why you give an artist such as Nolan the green light to tell the story of one of Greece’s greatest mythological warriors – Odysseus – in “The Odyssey.”
Where “Oppenheimer” was rather spare and somewhat chilly in its presentation, “The Odyssey” returns Nolan to full on epic filmmaking with a captivating effort that comes nowhere near to feeling as if you’re in a theater for close to three hours. It’s a throwback – in scope – to his own epic “Dunkirk” while harkening back to epics of the past, both visually and narratively with some modern subtext running through.
Odysseus (Matt Damon) answers the call to lead the army of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) in the great Trojan War. He responds to that duty uncertain he will ever return home to his kingdom of Ithaca to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and his then toddler son Telemachus (played as an adult by Tom Holland).
The uncertainty proves warranted as he and his men suffer in battle for a decade before finally successfully invading the city of Troy through deceptive means. Trojan Horse, anyone?
But the victory is bittersweet as returning home isn’t easy as he thought it would be as he and his men have to contend with assorted trials thrown in front of them by the “gods,” leading Odysseus to languish further still, eventually suffering from amnesia. He finds his way into the company of Calypso (Charlize Theron), who gradually guides him to his truth.
Meanwhile, back in Ithaca, Penelope, who has dutifully waited her husband’s return for 20 years, has to suffer the company of fools – a pack of suitors that assume Odysseus is dead and are willing to do anything to win her hand. Leading the jackals, Antinous (Robert Pattinson), an ambitious soldier seeking the status that marrying Penelope would bring, much to Telemachus’ obvious disgust.
He, unwilling to believe the father he’s never really known is dead, sets out to find him and, in the process, through those who served with Odysseus, he learns his father’s story.
In many ways, “The Odyssey” is a story about the parallel journeys of father and son who are in search of the same thing – a sense of self. Odysseus believed he knew who he was, but war has a way of changing the calculus in an individual’s life.
As for Telemachus, he’s still wet behind the ears and is forced to grow into the man befitting his royal lineage.
There is strength in those respective performances from Damon and Holland. There’s even more in Hathaway’s portrayal of Penelope. In a cast with a host of great performances, they standout. It would be a crime to forget Samantha Morton’s (“The Minority Report”) turn as the witch Circe, too.
However, the star here is the film itself.
Nolan crafts a film that harkens back to what Cecile B. DeMille created in his telling of Exodus and the man who led it, Moses, in “The Ten Commandments,” another story about a man on a journey, who faces his own uncomfortable truth. “The Odyssey” possesses that type of ambition and scope.
That, however, isn’t where the similarities end. Much in the way that DeMille methodically told that story so that it built, not necessarily through conflict, but through tense dramatic moments, Nolan, who wrote the script, does so here.
One scene in particular is reminiscent of Moses’ return to Egypt and eventually revealing his identity to his brother Ramses, who is now Pharoah of Egypt. It’s a moment that provides chills. Quite frankly, not many films impress in visuals and narrative as well. It does both with ease.
The first film shot completely with IMAX cameras, “The Odyssey” is lushly shot and is given a bigger than life feel matching what is truly an epic story in Greek mythology, doing Homer’s timeless poem justice.
“The Odyssey” is truly epic filmmaking at its best. It should be of little surprise that it comes from Nolan.
George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.
Review
Movie: “The Odyssey”
Cast: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Running time: 2 hours 52 minutes
Rated: R for violence and some language.
Grade: A-
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘The Odyssey’ is another gem from director Christopher Nolan | Review
Reporting by George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
