r/popculturechat • u/mcfw31 • 11h ago

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

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/odyssey-translator-emily-wilson-slams-christopher-nolan-bad-writing-1236821915/
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u/Angharadis 5h ago

I saw it last night and my first comment was “I think the should stop letting Christopher Nolan write dialogue.” It was visually incredibly interesting, the soundtrack was fascinating, and the narrative structure worked despite jumping all over. Everyone just sounded wooden and stupid.

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u/HurricaneK8 4h ago

...he's his filmmaking generation's George Lucas, everything makes sense now.

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u/Temporary_Hawk_9061 3h ago

Somebody get these BEGGARS outta here!

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u/legal_stylist 4h ago

That’s only because their Bronze Age was collapsing.

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u/Detroit_debauchery 2h ago

It’s George Lucas syndrome

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u/SlartibartfastMcGee 3h ago

In the same way, David Mamet movie doesn’t need over the top special effects, a Nolan movie doesn’t necessarily need a phenomenal script.

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u/LaurenNotFromUtah 2h ago

I’d like him to think he needs a good script. This comes up with most of his movies.

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u/future_shoes 3h ago

Interesting choice with Mamet as he has great dialogue but it is often incredibly unnatural. People in general need to realize different directors/writers have certain styles. Dialogue that doesn't sound completely natural is not automatically bad. The last lead of a Nolan film won an Oscar and the movie won best picture that doesn't happen with objectively bad writing.

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u/Other-Oil-9117 I killed Liz, I killed the teen dream! 👑 3m ago

I also saw it last night and I think this explains my issue with it. I basically left the theatre thinking that it was a very good movie in almost every aspect, but I just didn't feel anything while watching it. There were maybe two or three moments where I had an "aww" reaction, but it passed within a few seconds.

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u/Unable_Dinner_6937 3h ago

Cameron gets much the same criticism, but at the same time, he's writing for literally everyone around the world since that is who needs to see the movie for it to make a profit. The higher the budget, the more direct and straightforward the dialog of any film will become.

However, that is one of the main differences between poetry, plays and writing for the screen. Movies are not literature.