In writer/director Christopher Nolan’s conceit, this idea of openness and trust was betrayed by Odysseus (Matt Damon), in tricking the Trojans to accept the “gift” of a giant wooden horse, secretly filled to the rim with Greek warriors, all of them furious and miserable after spending the better part of a decade away from home in order to win the war for their king, Agamemnon (Benny Safdie). After the appreciative Trojans dragged this giant horse into their city as a symbol of peace with the Greeks, Odysseus and his men snuck out of the structure in the middle of the night, and opened the previously impenetrable Trojan gates in order to let the rest of their army inside, sacking the place in a fury of raping and pillaging. Odysseus won the war, such as it was, but, as Nolan has it, lost a good bit of humanity in the process. 

Many will compare this film to 2000’s Gladiator, and it’s an apt comparison, for better and worse.

Time travel movies and others that play with temporal realities are successful or not based on the strength of the plot. You could have the best cast in the world, and it will all end up lost to time if the story doesn’t make sense or, even worse, is too complicated. Some of the best […]

The other film of the week is Woody Allen‘s latest endeavor—To Rome with Love. Here we get a tale that involves us in the story lines of several groups of people all centered around Rome. First there’s Hayley and her new Italian boyfriend Michelangelo (Alison Pill and Flavio Parenti) and her parents, Jerry and Phyllis (Woody Allen and Judy Davis) […]