OPINION:
Having read both of Homer’s epic poems, “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” in high school, I can say that I am very familiar with both stories. The first is about the Trojan War and the second, Odysseus’ 10-year journey home to Ithaca.
Director Christopher Nolan’s recent movie version, “The Odyssey,” is dull. I enjoyed reading the books, but I yawned frequently watching the nearly three-hour-long movie.
I even took a relaxed stroll to the men’s room and all I missed was Odysseus’ remaining men drowning in a storm.
Setting aside the facts that there were no transgender men in the Greek army, and Helen and her half-sister Clytemnestra were not Black Africans, the film itself didn’t even scratch the surface of the sheer depth and beauty of Homer’s classical works.
To put it bluntly, Mr. Nolan blew it. The script, the acting, the music, the pace and the overall “adapted” storyline are, in a word, meh. The movie is just so two-dimensional.
Yet it is getting 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
What that says to me is that critics and audiences alike have lowered their standards to the point where they can’t tell the difference between Chateaubriand and a Big Mac (that’s assuming they even know what Chateaubriand is).
The only thing I gained by spending all of that time and money was the ability to write this review. I was not entertained.
ARTHUR SAGINIAN
Santa Clarita, California
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