{"id":2634545,"date":"2026-07-24T05:51:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T09:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/review-of-the-odyssey\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T06:08:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T10:08:41","slug":"review-of-the-odyssey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/review-of-the-odyssey\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Odyssey"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">8<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Freview-of-the-odyssey%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2634545&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The review critiques Christopher Nolan\u2019s adaptation of *The Odyssey* for its questionable casting choices, especially Matt Damon as Odysseus, wich contrasts sharply with traditional heroic portrayals of the Greek king. The film is criticized for featuring stars whose casting seems disconnected from their roles, such as Robert Pattinson as Antinous adn John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, with performances that lack credibility and often speak in hushed tones. Nolan\u2019s attempt to make homer\u2019s epic relatable results in a portrayal of Odysseus as a self-doubting, vulnerable character, rather than a heroic figure, with dialogue that feels modern and anachronistic. The screenplay is considered uninspired,filled with strange and out-of-place modern references,and the depiction of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nation-building-101\/\" title=\"Nation-Building 101\">ancient world<\/a> emphasizes grotesque eating habits rather than historical authenticity. The film also features dialogue that recalls scenes from othre movies, highlighting its lack of originality. Visually, despite grandeur, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/following-shazam-fury-of-the-gods-box-office-disaster-jason-momoa-attempts-to-stave-off-similar-disaster-for-aquaman-2\/\" title=\"Following \u201cShazam! Fury of the Gods\u201d Box Office Disaster, Jason Momoa Attempts to Stave off Similar Disaster for \u201cAquaman 2\u201d\">movie falls short<\/a> of the emotional depth expected, and even Nolan\u2019s impressive visuals are seen as hollow. the film is viewed as a clumsy, overlong, and lacking in the majesty and nuance of Homer\u2019s original epic, with the final scenes resembling a stylized action sequence more than a classic Greek tragedy. The review concludes with a somewhat ironic apology from the film, acknowledging its failure to live up to the grandeur of its source material.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trouble with <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/community-family\/4658529\/odyssey-film-christopher-nolan-review-muses\/#google_vignette\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/community-family\/4658529\/odyssey-film-christopher-nolan-review-muses\/#google_vignette\">Christopher Nolan\u2019s<\/a> <em>The Odyssey<\/em> starts with the casting of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/magazine-life-arts\/334346\/matt-damon-returns-to-europe\/\">Matt Damon<\/a> as Odysseus. True, this may not be as egregiously bad as <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2877556\/the-smearing-of-john-wayne\/\">John Wayne<\/a> as <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/2578462\/now-that-the-pope-has-praised-him-can-we-stop-pretending-genghis-khan-was-on-the-right\/\">Genghis Kahn<\/a> in the 1956 movie <em>The Conqueror<\/em> \u2014 a choice so notorious that it inspired the title for a<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/books\/\"> book<\/a> about ill-advised casting, Damien Bona\u2019s <em>Starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan: Hollywood\u2019s All-Time Worst Casting Blunders<\/em> (1996) \u2014 but did Nolan really wish us to associate the Homeric hero with the man who was Will Hunting, one of the lesser leads in the <em>Ocean\u2019s 11<\/em> franchise, and one of the conjoined twins in <em>Stuck on You<\/em> (2003)? This is not the typical resume for an Ithacan king associated with the manly attributes of persistence, valor, and brute strength. <em>This<\/em> is your Odysseus, Mr. Nolan?<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4660794\/tucker-carlson-says-was-wrong-big-things-was-wrong-trump\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Tucker Carlson says he was \u2018wrong on big things. I was wrong on Trump\u2019\u00a0to Stephen A. Smith<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4660344\/brendan-carr-says-abc-decision-trump-speech-factor-fcc-review\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Brendan Carr says ABC\u2019s decision not to broadcast Trump speech will factor in FCC review<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4659316\/alyssa-farah-griffin-tucker-carlson-therapy-podcast-mothers-wives-work-life-balance\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Alyssa Farah Griffin rips Tucker Carlson: Men \u2018would rather rant on a podcast than go to therapy\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now I harbor no grudge against Matt Damon \u2014 well, I harbor a little grudge against Matt Damon, mainly for his participation in the outrageous legacy media-fueled frenzy against then-<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\">Supreme Court<\/a> nominee <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/brett-kavanaugh\/\">Brett Kavanaugh<\/a> via his appearance as Kavanaugh on <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/saturday-night-live\/\">Saturday Night Live<\/a><\/em>. My assumption is that outside actors who agree to lampoon public figures on <em>SNL<\/em>, being under no compulsion to do so since they are not on staff, genuinely dislike those public figures, so I hold Damon, not the show\u2019s writers, responsible for his egregiously uncharitable impression, which made a weepy mockery of the real Kavanaugh\u2019s principled (and proper) indignation during his <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\">Senate <\/a>confirmation hearing. I hold Damon responsible, too, for trotting out his parody again earlier this year, when an <em>SNL<\/em> skit depicted Kavanaugh in a bar with FBI Director <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kash-patel\/\">Kash Patel<\/a> (Aziz Ansari) and War Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\">Pete Hegseth<\/a> (Colin Jost). This time, Damon brought particular vitriol to his portrayal of Kavanaugh, who was said to lament \u201cmale loneliness\u201d \u2014 as though this real ailment, shared by millions of men though presumably not by the justice, was a joke.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even Odysseus goes through periods of \u201cmale loneliness\u201d \u2014 how else to describe his condition on the island Ogygia with Calypso (played, um, by Charlize Theron)? Yet the real problem is not Damon\u2019s political bent but what his casting reveals about Nolan\u2019s overall approach to populating his version of <em>The Odyssey<\/em>: The movie, much in the manner of a 1990s-era Kenneth Branagh-directed Shakespeare adaptation, is stuffed with stars but with little regard for their appropriateness for their roles. Much ink has been spilled on the selection of Elliot Page (in Prince terms, the performer formerly known as the actress Ellen Page, from 2007\u2019s <em>Juno<\/em>) as Sinon, although let me pause to comment further: I recently learned that Nolan declines to make use of a smartphone, so perhaps this would explain his tone-deafness to our post-woke moment. How else to account for Nolan apparently assuming that the casting of a transgender actor as a Greek warrior would elicit no comment whatsoever?<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\">Jimmy Gonzales, Matt Damon, and Himesh Patel in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d (Melinda Sue Gordon\/Universal Pictures\/Everett Collection)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/07\/localimages\/LA.Film_.072926.jpg?w=696&#8243; height=&#8221;658&#8243; width=&#8221;1024&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jimmy Gonzales, Matt Damon, and Himesh Patel in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d (Melinda Sue Gordon\/Universal Pictures\/Everett Collection)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such casting flubs stick out amid Nolan\u2019s peerlessly craftsmanly movies, though \u2014 let\u2019s be honest \u2014 they are increasingly hulking, clumsy, drawn-out, and ear-splitting movies. We are a long way, with his recent elephantine epics, from the low-key, sinuous appeal of <em>Memento<\/em> (2000). Even so, given the honest effort he has expended in realizing Odysseus\u2019s journey, why jeopardize it all by casting lightweights such as Damon as Odysseus, Robert Pattinson \u2014 the guy from the <em>Twilight <\/em>movies! \u2014 as Antinous, and John Leguizamo (John Leguizamo \u2014 Toulouse-Lautrec from Moulin Rouge [2001]?) as Eumaeus? Not only are these personages less than plausible as figures from Homer, but they have each been directed to speak sotto voce \u2014 the movie, loud though it is, often consists of dialogue that sounds whispered, as though talking in a hush instantly confers gravity. How about just picking better, more believable, perhaps even classically trained actors?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alas, despite the undeniable sweep of the production \u2014 and it is genuinely thrilling to see the Trojan Horse engulfed in sand, and the cyclops Polyphemus rambling through his cave \u2014 Nolan means to make Homer relatable. He felt that we needed not a valiant Odysseus but a self-doubting, self-effacing, puppy-loving Odysseus (just wait for the flashbacks, which are as heartwarming as <em>Benji the Hunted<\/em> [1987]).<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\">Robert Pattinson in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d (Melinda Sue Gordon \/ Universal Pictures \/ Everett Collection)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/07\/localimages\/LA.Film2_.072926.jpg?w=696&#8243; height=&#8221;658&#8243; width=&#8221;1024&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Robert Pattinson in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d (Melinda Sue Gordon \/ Universal Pictures \/ Everett Collection)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This approach extends to the screenplay, which is not only uninspired but is littered with lingo that would have been once called anachronistic. \u201cDad is coming back,\u201d says Odysseus\u2019s son Telemachus (Tom Holland) to his mother, or \u201cmom,\u201d Penelope (Anne Hathaway). Coming back from where \u2014 the grocery store? A business trip? This is not the way that a king-in-waiting should speak about his father, the present king, whose lionhearted feats during the Trojan War are undoubted but who is presently absent from the known world. Or should I say he is \u201cMIA\u201d? After all, Nolan also has someone say, at one point, that \u201cSparta is full of Trojan War veterans.\u201d \u201cTrojan War veterans\u201d? Perhaps Odysseus\u2019s case can be taken up by the, um, Ithacan Department of Veterans Affairs. Meanwhile, Penelope refers to her \u201cyears of experience\u201d as queen, as though she is campaigning for president using the same playbook as Hillary Clinton in 2016. Nolan has no knack for depicting the ancient world, other than an abundant appreciation for its slovenly eating habits; never has a movie featured so many disgusting scenes of feasting, especially by Penelope\u2019s suitors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4649840\/awful-amoral-assumptions-the-invite-olivia-wilde-seth-rogan\/\">\u2018THE INVITE\u2019 WITH OLIVIA WILDE AND SETH ROGEN IS FULL OF AWFUL, IMMORAL ASSUMPTIONS <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\">Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d  (Melinda Sue Gordon\/Universal Pictures\/Everett Collection)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/07\/localimages\/LA.Film3_.072926.jpg?w=696&#8243; height=&#8221;658&#8243; width=&#8221;1024&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d  (Melinda Sue Gordon\/Universal Pictures\/Everett Collection)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even lines that are less obviously bad remind one of things other than Homer. For example, when Odysseus asks Calypso, \u201cAre you a god?\u201d \u2014 a perfectly valid question \u2014 the moment bizarrely recalls the scene in the original <em>Ghostbusters<\/em> (1984) when the god Gozer asked, um, the same exact question. (I\u2019m starting to think Nolan could<em> really<\/em> use a smartphone to avoid such unintentional parallels.) Sometimes, Odysseus simply sounds sort of dumb: Upon encountering a slumbering Polyphemus, Odysseus says, \u201cI think it\u2019s asleep\u201d \u2014 a good guess given that the cyclops is supine and snoring. So nonplussed is Damon\u2019s performance that Odysseus\u2019s journey is mainly measured in the evolution of his character\u2019s beard: from brown and patchy, to gray and Santa Claus-like.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Odyssey <\/em>guards itself against the many ways in which it could be mocked through the pedigree of its source and its director, who has fashioned a self-mythology as imposing as Stanley Kubrick\u2019s during the peak of his career. But Nolan is not the equal of Kubrick \u2014 even his visuals, though objectively big and bold, are hollow and inexpressive \u2014 and <em>The Odyssey<\/em> is really no <em>Odyssey<\/em> at all. The finale, in which Penelope\u2019s suitors are scrutinized by their facility in stringing Odysseus\u2019s bow, comes to resemble a Quentin Tarantino epic more than any Greek epic: As I watched Damon vanquish the suitors with bow and arrow, one after the other, all I could think of was the equally improbable manner in which Uma Thurman took on all those ninja-types at the end of the first <em>Kill Bill<\/em>, from 2003.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Mom,\u201d Telemachus says to Penelope at one point. At least the movie has the good sense to apologize to us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Peter Tonguette is the Life &#038; Arts editor of the <\/em>Washington Examiner <em>magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nolan\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d falters with casting Damon as Odysseus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2691,"featured_media":2634546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LA.Film_.072926.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[13875,83115,19272,50916],"class_list":["post-2634545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-classic","tag-homer","tag-literature","tag-review-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LA.Film_.072926.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2634545"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2634557,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634545\/revisions\/2634557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2634546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2634545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2634545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2634545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}