An epic hit with the hoi polloi, Christopher Nolan’s square-shouldered literalism was less embraced by academia, a bit sniffy at finding more prose than poetry in his Homer; beloved dactylic hexameter flattened to Mid-Atlantic Conversational.* No doubt, the only choice considering the budget, and largely brought off in a style not far off the Oscar-bait Biblical & Historical RoadShow spectaculars of the late-‘50s/early ‘60s. Think Wyler, Kubrick, Anthony Mann. A bit grandiose for impatient modern tastes, those films purposefully padded to assure program-clutching customers their premium advance tickets were worth the price. (You thought the writers & directors wanted to put in those dancing girls interludes?) Under Nolan, cult ceremonies instead of metaphoric orgies add to the running time, with the men generally coming off better than the women. A seriously buff Matt Damon effectively plays Odysseus on his post-war voyage home from Troy, as more straight-man than trickster to friends, foes & monsters. But that daily exercise routine on his abs didn’t do a thing for that unheroic snub nose. (Back in the day, Olivier & Welles filled out their inadequate ones with putty.) Standouts among the men include Robert Pattinson, Elliot Page and John Leguizamo while on the female front, only Anne Hathaway & Zendaya seriously miss the mark. Debits to Nolan for some poorly staged action, undercooked meme moments and subpar fly-wire work. But nothing dishonorable here.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *For a bit more of the poetry, try THE RETURN/’24 https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-return-2024.html
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