MEN SHOULD JUST SHUT UP

This article was published in the July 25, 2026 issue.

In the new Odyssey adaptation, director Christopher Nolan essentially plucked up a red carpet, wrapped everyone in curtain drapes and Greek armor, and boy, did people eat it up.

I did too.

It’s the top-grossing movie of the year so far, and even drummed up a sizable crowd at the Wednesday matinee at Minaret Cinemas, where I sat, wincing through a few too many slit throats for my taste and jumping at some of the loudest sounds I’ve ever heard in a movie theater.

You can probably gather I’m not much of an action movie buff.

But I still enjoyed “The Odyssey” for what it was: a beautifully presented interpretation of one of history’s most influential works, filled with lessons that have survived from the eighth century BC into the 21st. And though, in my opinion, it misses some opportunities to flesh out its characters, it’s a fun watch.

At its core, “The Odyssey” is about pride, temptation and what happens when people (especially powerful men) let their egos outrun their judgment. Odysseus is brilliant, brave and resourceful, but he’s also stubborn, arrogant and repeatedly humbled by the consequences of his own actions.

The script makes Odysseus’ hubris explicit, sometimes through full-fledged reflective monologues and other times through the spectacular consequences of his decisions. Frankly, it’s refreshing to find that message in a blockbuster action movie.

What I wish Nolan had borrowed more faithfully from Homer, though, was the balance in Odysseus’ character. He’s not just brave. He’s clever. Sometimes almost unbelievably so.

Take the Cyclops scene.

In the original epic, Odysseus talks to Polyphemus, gets him drunk, tricks him by saying his name is “Nobody,” blinds him only after setting up the trap, then sneaks his men out by tying them beneath the Cyclops’ sheep. It’s one of the best examples in literature of brains beating brawn.

In Nolan’s version, Odysseus more or less stabs the Cyclops in the eye and makes a run for it.

Because we don’t get to watch him outsmart his enemy, his later decision to reveal himself – whether by taunting the Cyclops with an arrow in the film or shouting his own name in the original – doesn’t hit quite as hard.

Again and again, characters tell us Odysseus is the smartest man they’ve ever known, but we get fewer chances to actually see it than Homer intended.

The dialogue, too, loses some of its magic here and there.

I get it. Translating an eighth-century BCE epic into a modern blockbuster script isn’t exactly easy. But there were a few lines that made me do a double take.

Like when Telemachus shouts, “Dad!” to Odysseus. Dude, you just met him. Also, I’m not convinced that’s what ancient Greeks were calling their fathers. Maybe… “Father?”

Then there’s Odysseus talking about everyone sitting in the Trojan Horse surrounded by “piss and shit.” I don’t know. Homer might’ve rolled over in his grave.

The cast is strong, as expected. Anne Hathaway is a convincing Penelope. Matt Damon plays the worn-down, world-weary Odysseus well. Tom Holland plays himself. (Kidding. Sort of.) He actually does a solid job as Telemachus. 

Charlize Theron is probably the weakest part of the cast, though that may have more to do with the costume department than her performance. She spends much of the movie looking like she wandered in from a Fashion Nova campaign.

Visually, it’s a beautiful movie. The landscapes, the ships, the battles—the sheer scale of everything makes you feel like you’re right there, drowning at sea and getting struck by lightning alongside everyone else.

Taken together, “The Odyssey” succeeds where it matters. It makes an ancient story feel exciting again without losing sight of why it’s endured for nearly 3,000 years.

I just wish Nolan had trusted Homer a little more. Odysseus didn’t become one of literature’s greatest heroes because he could win a fight, but because he could outthink one.

And yeah. It might also be the loudest movie ever made.