Title: The Odyssey
MPA Rating: R
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland
Runtime: 2 hrs 52 mins
What It Is: Odysseus (Damon) was a soldier in the Trojan War. As he battles along, the tales of his journey are told throughout his kingdom. All the while his Queen Penelope (Hathaway) and heir Telemachus (Holland) await his return. As he’s lost he will discover things like the Cyclops Polyphemus and the stranger turned lover Calypso (Theron). But much in the way his family is awaiting his return he equally wants to head back home.
What We Think: Christopher Nolan is always a guy who directs with such precision. Everything is as he intends it to be. He’s a master who always has a vision and normally is able to enact it on screen. Matt Damon is pretty good as Odysseus. He commands respect in a role that is as old as the written word. He brings pathos as well as piss and vinegar to the role. My biggest concern with this is it’s all just really kinda boring. The pacing here isn’t quite brisk enough to keep interest. It’s not from a lack of trying. I know Nolan is trying but at a certain point things have got to move a little bit. There are so many wins here to be frank. I just think that the hype of this is greater than the film itself.
Our Grade: B+, While this is a film of epic proportions it is also a film full of great ideas that are executed nicely. Unfortunately it’s also a film of excess. Visually stunning but lacking narratively. Nolan makes a few decisions that are brilliant and some others that I found questionable, but to say anything other than that this film is fitting of a director like Nolan would be remiss. Check this out. It’s a film unlike much anything else that’s been released in 2026 or in recent years.
