In case you missed it, over the last few weeks, Matt Damon has been on the promo circuit for his new movie “The Odyssey” — and this included a pit stop on Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast.
And now, the very first moment from this interview is going viral after viewers picked up on the strange way that Poehler spoke about the film.
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For context, Poehler was one of the few people to watch the movie ahead of its release, and Damon was clearly excited to finally speak to a tried-and-tested audience member… But it may not have gone down how he anticipated it would, with fans claiming that Poehler instead delivered “an absolute masterclass in how to sound like you’re complimenting someone’s movie without actually complimenting it.”
Melinda Sue Gordon / © Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
In the video, as Damon walks into the studio and takes his seat opposite Poehler, she tells him: “We just got to see it,” to which Damon enthusiastically replies: “I’m so happy! I’ve talked to so few people who’ve seen it!”
“Oh, I mean, I feel luc–, really lucky that we got to see it,” Poehler then goes on. “And it was so great to be able to see it. Like… Congratulations.” At this point, it seems as though Damon’s enthusiasm has waned, as he politely says: “Great, great, thank you.”
“It’s such a huge movie!” Poehler adds, and Damon replies: “Yeah, it’s by far the biggest thing I’ve ever been anywhere near.” Poehler continues: “It’s gonna be big, it is big, and it’s so loud! It’s a really loud movie, get brave! It’s intense.”
“IMAX is intense,” she continues, with Damon agreeing: “Yeah… The whole experience was like that! It was awesome.”
Kicking off the interview properly, Poehler then says: “I wanted to start there because I was lucky enough to get to see it. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. It’s one of those things that sticks with you, of course, because it’s like in many ways probably the most famous story ever told. I watched it, and it’s been swirling around in my head, obviously because of what it represents.”
As you may have noticed upon reading this, at no point does Poehler say that she enjoyed the movie, or really give any of her personal thoughts on the film beyond it being, well, “loud.” You can watch the moment in full below, too:
Good Hang / Via tiktok.com
TV critic Nick Hilton pointed this out in a TikTok video, where he added in the caption: “Say what you like about celebrity podcast interviewers but this is an exquisite clip of Amy Poehler talking about ‘The Odyssey’ with Matt Damon without actually saying anything positive about the film. Just delicious, masterful fluffing of a guest’s ego,” and now that he’s said it, people simply can’t unsee it.
In fact, Hilton’s TikTok has been viewed over 294K times in just 24 hours, with many other users flocking to the comments to share their reaction to the whole thing. One person joked: “It was so great… to be able to see it.”
© Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Another wrote: “She said everything except she liked it.” One more picked up on Damon’s fading enthusiasm in the exchange, writing: “I feel like he was realizing slowly she wasn’t complimenting him.” Somebody else quipped: “she’s basically saying…’look at you in that new haircut!’”
Another comment noted: “Graham Norton always says if he just describes the movie, he hated it, if he compliments he always means it. Amy seems to have learnt that trick…” While another jokingly concluded: “It definitely was a movie!!”
What do you make of Poehler’s comments?