Shapiro Calls Nolan's 'Odyssey' a 'Masterpiece'
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- Ben Shapiro posted an 18-minute review on his YouTube channel Saturday calling 'The Odyssey' a 'masterpiece' despite conservative outrage over the film's casting choices and historical accuracy.
- Shapiro called Christopher Nolan 'the best director working today, without a doubt,' saying he 'creates iconic movie after iconic movie.'
- Shapiro praised Matt Damon as Odysseus ('disappears into the part'), Robert Pattinson as Antinous ('sleazy and gross'), Tom Holland as Telemachus ('well cast'), and Anne Hathaway as Penelope.
- Shapiro defended Lupita Nyong'o's casting as Helen of Troy, arguing Nolan's script explains the Trojan War 'wasn't really launched over Helen being gorgeous' and that Diane Kruger 'doesn't look very Greek. She's German.'
- Shapiro called Elliot Page's casting as Sinon an 'absolute puzzler,' citing Page's 5'2", 105-pound frame and voice as reasons it 'doesn't work.'
- Nolan told The Telegraph that online backlash 'comes with the territory' for blockbusters, comparing it to the 'freighted' discourse around Batman during his 10-year trilogy tenure.
- 'The Odyssey' has conquered $264M+ at the global box office in its opening, per Deadline — Nolan's best-ever debut, ahead of 'The Dark Knight Rises.'
Why it matters: A prominent conservative commentator endorsing Nolan's film on artistic grounds — while drawing a selective line at Elliot Page's casting — signals the backlash is partial, not blanket. The review lands as 'The Odyssey' opens to $264M+ globally, Nolan's biggest debut ever, giving Universal cross-ideological cultural oxygen well beyond traditional film press.
