First impressions of The Odyssey — Part Three: a lack of enchantment
Here, at last, is the conclusion of my epic overview of Christopher Nolan's summer blockbuster.
Friend at a dinner on Sunday: “I keep checking for Part Three of your Odyssey review, the one where you divulge the problems you have with it.”
Me: “Wow! The first two parts were insufferably long. You actually read them? Are you okay? Do you have nothing better to do with your time?”
Friend: “When can we expect to see it?”
Me: “This week, I’m breaking away from the fires I’ve been fighting in my offline life (which has turned into an episodic Odyssey of frustration). I’m going to hide in a cabin in the woods and catch up on some writing. Finishing this Odyssey series will be Job #1.”
And here I am to fulfill that promise! I’ve settled into a patio chair in the sunshine, breathing smoky air from eastern Washington wildfires, and I feel like a beleaguered and disillusioned soldier outside of a burning city, trying to make sense of all that I have seen. I hear a voice saying, “Are you ready to go back ... to The Odyssey?” I want to answer, “Get out of my head, James Cameron influence! Okay, okay! Let’s get to the Christopher Nolan conundrum.”