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I’m an Ohio native, and growing up I also lived in Florida for a short time before graduating from Ohio State (sorry…but still Big Ten, right?) My wife Hope and I have one son (he’s in L.A. trying to be a star) and together we are Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critics on our website www.maddwolf.com.
I’m a very blessed cancer survivor, and have been privileged to work in radio since I was 16. I’m a big sports fan, and I also enjoy fitness, my Harley, scuba diving, fishing, and of course…music! Glad to be here!
In film after film after film, character go out in search of Matt Damon in a valiant attempt to bring him home. Christopher Nolan says no, he can find his own way home. It’s harder than you think! Nolan, Damon and a cast of hundreds essentially have the release week to themselves, and that’s OK. It’s a big movie.
The Odyssey
by Hope Madden & George Wolf, maddwolf.com
Christopher Nolan likes a big room.
A massive cast, incredible set designs, far flung locations, 70mm IMAX cameras, The Odyssey has it all. And why not? Homer’s story is among history’s first ever epics.
And it’s quite a tale, trailing Odysseus (Matt Damon) as he struggles to return home to Ithaca after his savvy strategy leading to the defeat of Troy. Nolan, who adapts the 2700-year-old tome, finds echoes of Oppenheimer in Odysseus’s struggle. It’s a haunting narrative choice that gives the ancient proceedings a relevance that transcends time.
Damon is magnificent, wily and honorable, humble and arrogant, and Nolan surrounds him with a jaw-dropping ensemble. Anne Hathaway is bracingly wonderful as Penelope, the wife pushing off suitors circling the throne Odysseus left empty nearly two decades ago. Tom Holland, John Leguizamo, Mia Goth, Corey Hawkins, and Robert Pattinson join Penelope in the castle, and while the entire cast is solid, Pattinson again carves out unforgettable screentime.
Out in the wild world, Charlize Theron offers a beautiful dash of melancholy as Calypso, who prods Odysseus to search his memories and tell the tale. Himesh Patel is also exceptional as Eurylochus, Odysseus’s second in command. Elliot Page delivers a heartbreaking turn as Sinon, a youngster who follows Odysseus into battle, Jon Bernthal crafts a perfectly hardened King of Sparta while Samantha Morton finds remarkable depths as the witch Circe, given her limited time on screen. With even less screentime, Lupita Nyong’o and Zendaya leave an emotional mark.
And that’s not even the full cast, each of them bringing vulnerability to scenes of remarkable staging. The Trojan horse, the ship at sea, scenes of war, of mutiny, scenes confined to a banquet hall or strewn across the black embers of hell—this is Nolan at not just his most imaginative, but his most insightful as he finds relatable humanity inside even the grandest of moments.
He also mines new relevance from this ancient text, increasing the narrative weight with each spectacular step on the journey. Set in “a time of apparent magic,” Nolan doesn’t let us forget that the sacred bonds between people are still very fragile indeed, and breaking them can still have haunting, tragic repercussions.
The Odyssey casts such a mesmerizing spell that its three-hour runtime seems inconsequential, and the occasional lapses into more contemporary types of dialog and phrasing are rendered mere curiosities. Even those who may not be quite scholarly in Greek mythology will find a rich, rewarding story to get lost in, one that is anchored in storytelling itself as a reminder of what power the ancient art can hold.
Expect witchcraft and monsters (maybe a horror film next, Mr. Nolan?), war, brutality, political skullduggery, love and longing, revenge and regret, sacrifice, cowardice, honor and visual wonder.
The magic here is more than apparent, so don’t cheat yourself by waiting for the streaming date. The Odyssey is a true cinema experience, and a reason to seek out IMAX, 70mm, the whole fantastic shebang. This trip of a lifetime deserves nothing less.
Grade: A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_bKjZeJBBI
