I haven’t been to the movies since 2019 (covid, kids, etc.) and have been planning this as my triumphant return since I heard Christopher Nolan was directing the Greek epic.

I read/listened to the book about a month ago, so here is a collection of thoughts on the book, movie, and the differences.

The film does a great job of immediately setting the scene—who the bad guys are (suitors), the relationships you need to know about, and what is at stake. The movie makes the antagonist (Antinous), despite having the strongest jawline in all of Greece, look extra bad by showing him as a draft dodger, an oath breaker, and a coward.

The movie did leave out one of my favorite scenes from the book: when Odysseus lands on the Phaeacian island and the young guns challenge him to sports. As someone easily goaded into competition, I found it extremely relatable and hilarious that 3,000 years ago men acted the exact same way around competition.

Nolan made a creative decision to shift the lotus flower from one of the things Odysseus’ crew needs to avoid (land of the lotus eaters) to having Odysseus scarf them down and later get off the stuff to then tell Calypso his tale. Don’t do drugs!

Matt Damon is JACKED for this film, but in an achievable way, which I appreciate. The use of the bow, and the callbacks to the bow strum throughout the movie, was tremendous.

And I thought it was cool how Agamemnon never has his face exposed—kinda like how we never see the soldiers in Dunkirk—adding to the mystery of those characters.

General themes from the movie or book:

1/ The central theme in the film, which I didn’t get reading the book (but do like), is trust as a core pillar of society. What makes Odysseus a great man is how on his hunt he gives the prey a fair fight by warning them. He violates this with his trickery to get into Troy. That sends him on a 20-year journey before he can confess his sins in front of his wife before redeeming himself (and it really does look like a confession with her behind the wall). The film made it seem like the breaking of trust via the Trojan horse was similar to eating from the Garden of Eden – society will never be the same.

2/ The lotus flower and the Siren song feel like the most relatable traps for modern man.

3/ In the film, Helen of Troy says that King Agamemnon only invaded Troy for the trade route, and that she was just an excuse. Turns out Helen was the ancient equivalent of WMDs / uranium.

Things I didn’t love about the film adaptation:

1/ Dropping the scene where Odysseus talks smack to the giant and tricks him by telling the giant his name is “No One.” That scene might have been hard to pull off in the theater, but it adds some levity to the story.

2/ The relationship dynamics seem to be reversed in the movie compared to what I remember from the book… In the book, Athena and Odysseus are partners in crime for much of the story. And although Odysseus does have his fair share of trip-ups in the book, his men also make mistakes such as opening the bag of wind, eating the cattle, and so on. On top of that, I appreciate Christopher Nolan knocking Odysseus down a few pegs so he can redeem himself at the end when he has a moment of clarity with Penelope.

3/ I didn’t love the Circe interaction.