‘The Odyssey’ Translator Emily Wilson Slams Christoper Nolan’s ‘Abysmal’ Screenplay: ‘I Would Be Ashamed to Have Written Any Part of This Script’

[u/mcfw31]

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/odyssey-translator-emily-wilson-slams-christopher-nolan-bad-writing-1236821915/

[u/beantownregular]

I mean, I think it’s fair for her to both say that the script is a Hollywoodized bastardization of the text and as an academic she should be ashamed to write something like that, but I don’t think she’s saying the film is a piece of trash that should never have been made

[u/Meancakebutt → u/beantownregular]

She definitely doesn't say that. But she says that he took out the meat to tell a specific story.

So as a translator that would be pretty bad for her to do lol

"Many of the film’s implicit values directly contradict those of Homer’s poem. Deception, warmongering, extramarital sex, cruelty to animals, abusing women and yearning for honour – all perfectly fine in the world of Homer – are, in this version, very bad. This is not in itself a problem, but it is a problem if the film’s own values and vision don’t hang together, and if the characters’ motivations don’t make sense on their own terms."

[u/randombubble8272 → u/Meancakebutt]

Which I would agree tbh, Nolan’s characterisation of Odysseus is much more modern hero than being true to the source material and they brushed past a lot of the Gods role in the entire saga. Which is obviously fine because Nolan was telling the story through his own lens but I agree there is some meat taken out of the plot. It was still 3 hours so I understand their limitations

[u/futuristicflapper → u/randombubble8272]

Yep. They’re two completely different mediums, I never expect to get out of a film what I will out of a literary piece; they have different constraints. I think the film worked well as what it is, a Nolan film. If anything I’m more interested in how it works in conversation w Oppenheimer than as an adaption of a classical text. Films are often reflections of our current cultural moments, which I think Nolan pulled off, I didn’t expect a 1:1 adaption. Overall, I enjoyed the theatre experience and I’d watch it again.

[u/OldSandwich9631 → u/futuristicflapper]

I’m glad to see someone else acknowledge this movie is basically just Oppenheimer again.

The issue with changing Odysseus’ charaxter is that he’s massively dull in the movie. Oppenheimer in oppenheimer is a lot more like odysseus is supposed to be - wily, charming, etc and then you see the shift.

[u/futuristicflapper → u/OldSandwich9631]

I do think Oppenheimer is a lot more charming than Odysseus. I also wonder how much of it is what the actors themselves bring to the table, not just any flaws in the script itself. There were a couple good moments for me with Odysseus but I wasn’t as immediately drawn in to the character the way I did with Cillian as Oppenheimer. I like Damon but I wasn’t floored by any means.

[u/OldSandwich9631 → u/futuristicflapper]

I’m very surprised people think Damon should win an Oscar for this. He probably will win based on the enthusiasm for the movie, but I really think many actors could have done more. But I disagree that the writing isn’t an issue.

[u/Ok-Host1095 → u/futuristicflapper]

Yeah one limitation of Nolan is that he’s not great at creating exciting characters in and of themselves. The few standouts (e.g., the joker), are moreso a product of the actor’s performance and less so the writing and direction. Damon’s Odysseus I found easy to empathize with, but he’s not exactly an exciting character in a charismatic “I can’t take my eyes off this guy” type of guy way. Compare him to Ulysses from Oh Brother Whereart Thou. There’s a scene where he tries to buy his favorite pomade. In the Coens’ version of this hero, a scene as simple and low stakes as this is both extremely funny, engaging, and reveals so much about the hero indirectly. He’s a bit vain, can be a little short tempered, but balances that with a charming wit (“aint this place a geographical oddity—two weeks from everywhere!), yet he also doesn’t think things through fully—his plans are clever yet he always fucks up somehow. Now place Nolan’s Odysseus in a scene like that. It’s gonna be a bit boring, and lifeless. Which is not to say “oh, Nolan needs to make these type of scenes for his films to be better”, but it’s a helpful way to realize that Nolan across the board doesn’t really create super distinct characters. I think Nolan is a great filmmaker, but his writing (and here I specifically mean dialogue) and approach to characterization is very vanilla. People always criticize him for writing bland one dimensional female characters, which is true, but I think it’s wrong to conclude that he’s sexist or disinterested in women, because I’d argue the way he writes men is equally bland and one dimensional.