The Odyssey

Is Christopher Nolan the greatest director ever? I'm actually asking. Because I walked out of this thing running the numbers in my head, and the answer keeps creeping closer to yes.

Every piece of this movie is expertly crafted. You can see the budget on the screen, and more importantly, you can see it being spent by someone who knows exactly what he's doing with it. Nothing wasted. Nothing showy for the sake of showy. Just a big, expensive, ancient story told by a guy at the top of his game.

This is not a laptop movie.

Matt Damon is a mastercraftsman. That's the word for him now. He just adds to everything he touches, and here he's carrying a legend on his back and making it look easy. I don't know how he does it. He shows up, and the movie gets better. That's a skill most actors will never have.

Anne Hathaway as the queen? Amazing. Tom as the prince held his own, which is not a small thing when you're sharing frames with Damon. And John Leguizamo as Eumaeus might genuinely be the best work he's ever done. I did not have that on my bingo card walking in, and I'm still thinking about it.

Then there's Pattinson as Antinous. Creepy as hell. And I mean that as the highest compliment. He crawls under your skin and stays there. The kind of performance where you're glad when he's off screen and disappointed when he's off screen, all at once.

The adventure, the scenery, the story, the way Nolan puts it all together, it just works. Every layer of it. I saw this in a theater and I'm telling you, the theater made it better. This is not a laptop movie. This is a big screen, big sound, big everything movie.

It stuck with me after. Days later, I'm still turning pieces of it over in my head. I brought the kids and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Is Nolan the greatest ever? Ask me again in a week. I might be even more convinced by then.