Matt Damon Blends Nolan Heroes in ‘The Odyssey’: A Must-See

This article contains spoilers for “The Odyssey.”

Christopher Nolan has a knack for interweaving themes that ripple through his films, one influencing the next. In “Memento” and “Insomnia,” we encounter thrillers that dive deep into psychological mazes, manipulated by narrators entangled in their own deceptions. “Batman Begins” and “The Prestige” explore the duality of identity, with characters leading double lives. Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” follows this thematic intertwining, much like “Oppenheimer,” by focusing on a protagonist whose singular invention wreaks havoc on the world, burdening him with overwhelming guilt.

As you delve into “The Odyssey,” it becomes evident how Matt Damon’s portrayal of Odysseus mirrors Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer. Odysseus incurs divine wrath by crafting the Trojan Horse, shattering the moral order upheld by Zeus. He vividly outlines the “before-and-after” impact of his actions, claiming responsibility for the onslaught by mysterious “people of the sea,” who wreak chaos across Greece. For Odysseus, like Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the act was meant to end a devastating conflict, yet it unveils a breach of cosmic balance that cannot easily be mended.

Odysseus also shares a mysterious kinship with another of Nolan’s complex protagonists, Don Cobb from “Inception,” masterfully played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Cobb and Odysseus both navigate the painful experience of exile, separated from their families until a pivotal reckoning with their past deeds paves the path for their return.

In the opening scenes of “The Odyssey,” Odysseus finds himself stranded on Calypso’s island, portrayed by Charlize Theron, ensnared in a haze induced by the mystical lotus, with memories erased by years of hardship. For fans of Nolan’s oeuvre, this will likely evoke “Inception,” as Cobb similarly emerges at the movie’s commencement, lost and washed ashore in the dreamscape’s limbo, stripped of memories. Eventually, both protagonists engage in a harrowing struggle to reclaim their forgotten pasts and ultimately navigate their way back home.

In doing so, each must come to terms with their crimes. For Cobb, it’s the death of his wife. Desperate to wake her from the dream world she doesn’t want to leave, he places an idea at the center of her mind, that her world is not real. This leads to her suicide when she awakens in an effort to “wake” again. Cobb’s is a personal betrayal, whereas Odysseus’ ordeal is worldwide. By conquering Troy against the precepts of Zeus’ Law, he forsakes, in his own words, “all that’s ever sacred between people.”

The theme of memory has been one of Nolan’s favorites since “Memento.” Even in that early film, the main character chooses to let himself believe a lie, rather than grapple with the sin he’s committed.

“The Odyssey” surpassed the already-high expectations of critics, which makes sense given how it combines so many of Christopher Nolan’s calling cards. It has the epic sensibility, the tragedy, the darkness, the fixation on memory and fear, and the long journey home. So it’s fitting that its main character is also the platonic ideal of the Nolan protagonist, embodying not just Don Cobb and J. Robert Oppenheimer, but so many of the director’s other leading men.

Like Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) in “Interstellar,” he’s blown off-course and forced to miss his children growing up in his absence. He is also haunted by the lives he couldn’t save as with Nolan’s Bruce Wayne, and similar to Will Dormer (Al Pacino) in “Insomnia,” he struggles to contend with the dark things he has done. That denial only sends him further astray.

But ultimately, it’s Oppenheimer and Cobb whom Nolan blends into this weary, scarred portrait of Odysseus — a man who journeys to the pit of his own soul to get home to his family, only to arrive back in a world made forever more dangerous by his decisions.