Nolan, The Odyssey, and Trying to Grasp the Duality of Greatness
When James Gunn's Superman came out, I called it a hotdog of a movie. Which is to say that it was more than empty calories, but less than a fulfilling, nutritional, meaty masterpiece of a film that you can really sink your teeth into. It's a movie you watch once, have a generally good time doing so, and then more or less forget about. Maybe you catch it again a few years later when nothing else seems good, maybe you occasionally have a craving for a hot dog, but it'll never be more than a ground up homunculus of a meal. A facade of satisfaction.
With this scale in mind, I struggle to find a place for Nolan's Odyssey. It is certainly more than a hot dog. Upon watching it and leaving the theater I thought it a masterpiece - epic in scope, marvelous in execution. And yet as I sit here days later, I can't say much of it has really stuck with me, and what has stuck with me has mostly been excerpts of clunky dialogue or unfulfilling, hamfisted morality parables. Not that morality parables are a problem in and of themselves, I'm actually quite fond of them, but there's only so many times one can hear about the breaking of "Zeus' law" before saying ok, yes, I get it.
Still, The Odyssey is undoubtedly a marvel of human creation. In an era of CG everything and cardboard scripts it is a whirling breeze of substance. The film is almost tactile, gritty. Ocean sprays soak the mind and the grit of earth lingers between fingers. Performances are great from top to bottom, at least in my book, with the weakest characters only really due to lackluster writing more than a lack of acting chops. On nearly every meaningful level the film truly is superb.
Nearly.
I am not a Homeric scholar, or even hobbyist. I like the Iliad and the Odyssey, and I’ve read them more than the required in high school and college, but not regularly by any means - not enough to remember the intricate details. As such, I do not have qualms about the adaption from the original. This is not some two year old book whose movie has completely undercut the source material. It’s a reimagining, a repackaging, a refreshing for a modern era. I think this is good, and that it succeeds in this more than it falters.
And yet I am unsatisfied. I want to see it again. I want to own it when it releases on physical. These are the highest praises I can give anything, and yet I am unsatisfied.
See, despite its greatness, The Odyssey lacks a certain intangible depth. When it comes to the substance of the script, it is an adult version of a children’s novel. Nuance is not always necessary, but The Odyssey is overbearing in its bluntness. It’s not even that I disagree with the message it’s trying to convey, it’s simply that its methods of conveying that message come at the sacrifice of a greater movie. A greater than great movie.
This is an issue I have with most of Nolan’s movies, if I’m honest. It is not that they’re superficial, empty calories. It is not even that they are just hot dog blockbusters to be enjoyed and forgotten. There is meat on that bone, just not a lot of it.
So maybe The Odyssey is the babyback rib of a movie, delectable but not sustaining. A masterwork of its craft but lacking in the vegetables and fiber needed to be truly fulfilling.
And it’s a little frustrating because I think we need an Odyssey right now, both in the set of its execution and the morality and depth of its tale. We got half of that. Maybe even two-thirds. Just not the whole.
And so I struggle with The Odyssey, though I liked it, though I think it great. I don’t know that it packs enough punch to feel days, much less years later. And that, at least, is unfortunate.