‘The Odyssey’: Ranking Every Performance in Christopher Nolan’s Film From Worst to Best

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.

A preponderance of Twitter users, who have struggled to wrap their heads around Nolan’s film from the jump, have been heaping praise on the “aura” of Safdie’s Agamemnon, a hulking figure in Darth Vader-esque black armor. They don’t seem to understand that Nolan has cast Agamemnon, a warlord whose desire for revenge led to countless deaths during the Trojan War, as a monument to the male ego whose gigantic armor is worthy of ridicule. The fact that Nolan goes through great pains to refrain from showing Safdie’s face, covering it in a helmet and shooting him from behind, doesn’t inspire confidence, and when you hear him mutter a line or two, sounding like, well, Benny Safdie, it’s disorienting.

Perhaps some of her scenes were left on the cutting room floor, but Goth’s brief appearance as Melantho, sister to Ithacan farmer Melanthius who repeatedly deceives Penelope in favor of the suitors, is baffling. Perhaps this is due to how thinly-drawn her character is compared to Homer’s epic poem, where her loyalty to the suitors is explored in greater detail, and perhaps you can chalk it up to Nolan’s penchant for casting name actors in minor roles, which can prove distracting, but Goth looks out of place here.

Putting aside his bald-and-bearded look, which seems like a more modern example of male grooming as opposed to that of a Spartan king, Bernthal never makes you think that you’re watching anyone but Jon Bernthal here. The decision to have all the actors speak in American accents, and use their natural-sounding voices, does Bernthal no favors, since his Menelaus comes off sounding like streetwise Jon Bernthal as opposed to Greek royalty.  

It’s pretty amusing that Nolan cast Logan Marshall-Green, long recognized as Tom Hardy’s Hollywood doppelgänger, as the traitorous goatherd Melanthius given that Hardy is a regular Nolan collaborator. That aside, like his sister Melantho, Marshall-Green isn’t given a whole lot to do here beyond flashing the occasional treacherous look and tussling with Holland’s Telemachus in the armor room. Thus, when Melanthius’ big moment of deceit comes, it’s less of a surprise than an inevitability.

It’s just hard to buy Corey Hawkins as a sleazy suitor. He comes across as a good guy who’s known for playing good-guy roles, so his belittling of Telemachus, the blind shepherd Eumaeus and Odysseus in his beggar garb strains credulity. Not so menacing!

Theron has long been one of the most magnetic actresses in Hollywood, and can really bring it when she wants to (see: “Monster,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”), but she is given precious little to do here beyond looking immaculate and gazing longingly at Damon’s Odysseus on her island. It’s more J’adore Dior commercial than warrior-enslaving seductress in a Homeric epic.

As Odysseus’ second in command who often clashes with his superior over his hubris, which lands them in one sticky situation after another, Patel delivers a sturdily defiant turn, matching Damon’s intensity whenever they lock horns. He makes Eurylochus an essential element to Nolan’s film, exhibiting the frustrations of Odysseus’ soldiers and laying bare Odysseus’ shortcomings.

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Let’s get one thing out of the way, first: Elon Musk and his Twitter goon squad couldn’t have been more wrong about Nyong’o, a stunning, Oscar-winning actress whose face could absolutely launch a thousand ships. Their embarrassingly racist ramblings aside, Nyong’o does a commendable job pulling double-duty here as twin sisters Helen of Troy, a solemn soul bearing a scar on her face for her indiscretion with Paris, and Clytemnestra, the devious, double-crossing wife of Agamemnon, who assassinates him upon his return from war. Cast her in more films, please. And make the roles bigger.

Many viewers were compelled to peruse the credits to figure out who portrayed Tiresias, the blind prophet of the underworld, in Nolan’s “The Odyssey.” That otherworldly figure with the cloaked face who rose up from the sand was none other than James Remar, of “Sex and the City” and “The Warriors” fame, who completely disappeared into the spooky role. A triumph of special effects, sure, but a transfixing performance nonetheless.

Without giving too much away, Nolan’s inserted a rather genius twist toward the end of his “Odyssey” involving the character of Athena that casts her character — and Zendaya’s performance — in a whole new light. Throughout the film, Zendaya’s Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, serves as a guiding light, conscience and motivator for Odysseus. Even though she has little dialogue, Zendaya exudes quiet calm and strength in the role, making her warm presence known.   

The news that John Leguizamo would have a sizable role in Nolan’s “The Odyssey” was undoubtedly met with a bit of skepticism. Benny Blanco from the Bronx in ancient Greece? But people tend to overlook how versatile of an actor Leguizamo is, and here, he really stretches his wings as Eumaeus, Odysseus’ fiercely loyal swineherd. Here, Nolan has reimagined Eumaeus as a wise, blind prophet, like Homer himself, and Leguizamo is more than up to the task, demonstrating a gentle vulnerability that we haven’t quite seen before from him.

Elon Musk (who is deeply transphobic) and his Twitter troll army made a whole lot of noise over the casting of Elliot Page, who is trans, in Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” believing him to be playing Achilles. Well, as per usual, they were wrong on a number of levels. Page plays Sinon, a character from Virgil’s “Aeneid” who’s been recast in Nolan’s version as an Ithacan shepherd boy who took the cowardly Antinous’ place in the Trojan War draft and then is duped by Odysseus into sacrificing himself to get the Trojan Horse inside the walls of Troy. Later, Sinon pays Odysseus a visit in the underworld to remind him of his deceit, and Page knocks the scene out of the park, haunting both hero and audience.

One of the bigger departures from Homer’s epic poem is the character of Penelope, Odysseus’ long-suffering, deeply devoted wife who’s been fending off 108 suitors vying for her missing husband’s throne for years through her strength and cunning. Nolan’s Penelope is far more defiant than Homer’s, putting her son Telemachus in his place and wishing fiery death upon her hall of admirers. Hathaway is a force of nature here, capturing Penelope’s grit and determination with aplomb. And man, can she hold a close-up.

Audiences have spent a lot of time witnessing Matt Damon try to return home, from “Saving Private Ryan” and “Interstellar” to “The Martian” and “The Odyssey.” And the reason why is he’s his generation’s thoughtful everyman, imbued with a boyish sense of optimism that’s easy to root for. He’s also a hell of an actor who can communicate pain and heartbreak like few others, and as Odysseus, you see the heavy burden of war and loss on his face. His Odysseus is a broken man with the weight of the world on his shoulders who will never give up hope for a better tomorrow.

Pattinson famously said that he based his turn as Antinous, the most nakedly corrupt of Penelope’s many suitors, on James Woods’ Lester Diamond in “Casino,” one of cinema’s all-time sleazeballs. The “Twilight” and “Batman” star has always been a nimble character actor (and certified weirdo) with the face of a leading man, and he’s never been more deliciously devious than he is here; a paragon of parasitism whose every glance oozes slime. It makes you even more excited for his villainous turn as Scytale in “Dune: Part Three” and creep-catcher Chris Hansen in “Primetime,” out later this year.

The clear MVP of Christopher Nolan’s epic is Morton, whose pig-transforming sequence as the sorceress Circe is nothing short of extraordinary. Morton has always had an enthralling screen presence and it’s on full display here, as Nolan and the two-time Oscar nominee have turned this witch from a weak-willed goddess who’s seduced and bedded by Odysseus into the embodiment of female rage. It is a sight to behold, and a oh-so-satisfying to see the journeywoman actress receive a role that she can really sink her teeth into. More of this, please.

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