Summary
Overview
Critical Drinker returns to Trigonometry to dissect the current state of Hollywood, focusing on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, the shift away from identity politics, and whether cinema is truly recovering. The conversation explores why even technically competent films feel emotionally hollow, how streaming has changed the industry, and what happened to the dangerous, interesting actors who once dominated the screen.
The Odyssey Controversy and Casting Backlash
The Odyssey generated unprecedented backlash when casting choices were announced, particularly Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy and Elliot Page in a supporting role. However, Critical Drinker explains that while the race-swapping sparked outrage, these characters appear for only five minutes in a seven-hour runtime. His actual criticism centers on the film's lack of emotional engagement and Nolan's characterization of Odysseus as a PTSD-suffering veteran rather than the brave adventurer from the source material.
- Critical Drinker gave The Odyssey a 'meh' review, praising technical aspects but criticizing lack of emotional engagement
- Lupita Nyong'o and Elliot Page's casting generated massive online backlash similar to Snow White with Rachel Zegler
- Both controversial castings only appear for five minutes total in the film
- Nolan took major liberties with Odysseus's characterization, turning him from a brave adventurer into a Vietnam vet with PTSD and survivor's guilt
" I still stand by my overall assessment in my video, which is it's meh. I've heard some people talk about this as being one of the greatest movies ever made. And it's insane. It's like, how many movies have you watched? "
Christopher Nolan as Idea Director, Not Actor's Director
Christopher Nolan has a reputation for not being an actor's director, essentially telling performers to figure out their roles themselves rather than providing guidance. This resulted in Matt Damon delivering an oddly emotionless, almost autistic performance as Odysseus, while talented actors like Tom Holland gave the worst performance of his career on autopilot. Only experienced actors like Robert Pattinson understood the assignment and crafted compelling performances independently.
- Nolan doesn't direct actors, he just says 'there's the script, figure it out yourself'
- Matt Damon plays an emotionless, autistic Jason Bourne-type character despite having incredible range
- Tom Holland gave arguably the worst performance of his career because Nolan doesn't provide guidance
- Robert Pattinson understood the assignment and created the most compelling performance as the evil suitor
" He doesn't have a reputation necessarily as an actor's director. From what I'm told, he pretty much just says, right, there's the script, figure it out yourself. "
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