By Marlow Stern
Plus IconMarlow Stern
Chief Correspondent
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Universal Pictures The online trolls couldn’t have been more wrong about “The Odyssey,” Christopher Nolan’s $250 million adaptation of Homer’s tale about Odysseus’ decade-long journey home to Ithaca following the Trojan War. It’s only fitting that it strays from the source material, since the epic poem is part of a long oral tradition that’s been expanded upon for centuries. Shot entirely in Imax 70mm, Nolan’s latest has become a bona fide cultural phenomenon, with audience members going so far as delaying pregnancies to see it the way he intended.
“The Odyssey” opened to rave reviews and a whopping $124.5 million in domestic theaters its opening weekend, shattering box office projections and leading awards pundits to ponder whether Nolan has another Best Picture winner on his hands. There is a large cast of characters in “The Odyssey” brought to life by some of the biggest names in Hollywood, several of whom should be recognized come Oscar time.
So, let’s rank every major performance in “The Odyssey,” shall we?
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Tom Holland (Telemachus)
Image Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon Christopher Nolan’s version of Telemachus, the son of Odysseus whose father departed for the Trojan War when he was just an infant, is far more callow than that of Homer’s tale, and doesn’t experience as much of a heroic transformation during the suitors-slaying finale. Through much of Nolan’s film, Holland struggles to capture Telemachus’ anguish over his father’s absence and frustration over both the suitors’ pursuit of his mother, Penelope, and her attempts to keep them at bay. Nearly every line delivery lacks conviction, and it is only near the end, when his eyes well up with tears at the sight of his father, that he registers emotionally.
