Top 5 Matt Damon Performances
By Austin Johnson
After seeing Ford v Ferrari, I felt like making a Top 5 for good ol' Matt Damon. Christian Bale also stars in the film and I will definitely do a Top 5 for him at some point. He impresses me every single time he’s on the screen whether it’s The Machinist, Batman, or Knight of Cups. Bale disappears quite often and we’re all pretty used to it at this point. Damon, on the other hand has some roles that I just do not care for, whether it be in The Great Wall or Suburbicon. Damon has the occasional role that I really enjoy these days and then some work from his 20’s that I’m in love with. He isn’t my favorite actor or anything, but he’s a movie star that I respect a whole lot.
5.) Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum (2002, 2004, 2007)
“I swear to God, if I even feel somebody behind me, there is no
measure to how fast and how hard I will bring this fight to your doorstep. I'm on my own side now.” |
Jason Bourne, the film from 2016 isn’t quite up to par with those first three from the 2000’s, but my gosh, if you take it away, one of my favorite trilogies of all time. Oh, and Legacy with Jeremy Renner just shouldn’t have been made. He’s a great actor and I’m down for an action film starring him, but not when it’s literally using the name Bourne in the title. He’s not Jason Bourne! Matt Damon really absorbed this role for a five year stretch and all three of them are so rewatchable. They play on TNT at some point every month. The third installment, Ultimatum received three Oscars at the 80th Academy Awards. All five films combined for over a billion dollars and they are just some of the best distract yourself from reality films. After all, that’s goal isn’t it? John Powell’s music in the first three films is fantastic. Whenever I travel, I listen to the Bourne soundtrack as I walk through the airport. I know that’s childish, but that’s the power of Damon’s badass performance as Jason Bourne. My favorite of the three is Supremacy, because the action is fucking awesome and then the love story between Jason and Marie just enhances it to a high level. That scene between them under water will make me cry every time.
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4.) Carroll Shelby in Ford v Ferrari (2019)
“There's a point at 7,000 RPM where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. It just disappears. All that's left, a body moving through space and time. 7,000 RPM, that's where you meet it. You feel it coming. It creeps up near you, and it asks you a question. The only question that really matters. Who are you?”
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So, this is the role that inspired this list. I want to do a bunch of lists for actors, but I was really moved by Damon’s work as automobile genius, Carroll Shelby. From what I’ve read, the film followed the true story pretty closely, which always feels nice as a member of the audience. Matt Damon is rocking sunglasses and a beautiful cowboy hat as he struts around talking about cars for two and a half hours. I normally wouldn’t be interested in this kind of subject matter, but James Mangold has become a director that most certainly has my full attention. Girl, Interrupted, Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Logan, and now this? That’s an impressive resume and this may be his best film yet. Carroll Shelby is on the screen a whole lot, which hasn’t been something that we’ve all enjoyed since 2015’s The Martian. Since then he’s been in Jason Bourne, The Great Wall, Downsizing, and Suburbicon. Not the greatest stretch, Matt. Something I love about him is his input in the comic book realm with his appearances in Ragnarok and Deadpool 2. Very minor parts, but how cool is it to have Matt just randomly appear in a superhero film? He also has one of the all time heat check performances in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar as that egotistical douchebag Mann. Anyways, Matt Damon still has that magic that we all love and if you don’t believe me, go check out Ford v Ferrari. Damon’s back!
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3.) Will Hunting in Good Will Hunting (1997)
“See, the sad thing about a guy like you is, in 50 years you're gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you're going to come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life: one, don't do that, and two, you dropped 150 grand on a fuckin' education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library!”
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Good Will Hunting got Damon his only Oscar. It wasn’t for acting, but for writing the screenplay with his good pal Ben Affleck. The film had nine nominations at the 70th Academy Awards and won two. One for the legendary performance Robin Williams gave us as Sean and one for Matt and Ben. Damon was also up for Best Actor in a pool with Dustin Hoffman, Peter Fonda, Robert Duvall, and winner Jack Nicholson. That’s a hell of a group and Matt totally deserves a place there. Will Hunting is definitely a dude I want in my squad. He can fight and outsmart any dude out there. The film is so focused on the big life questions that Will has to ask himself as he grows up. It’s one of the most interesting character studies on someone who has talent that they don’t necessarily want. Will is a fucking genius, but does that mean he owes it to people to use his gift? Matt and Ben fought for this script to be made. The story of how they finally got someone to buy into it is pretty incredible. Kevin Smith was heavily involved, what a guy… Matt Damon might have done his most impressive acting in this one. He’s really pulling out every emotion and allowing it to carry him through each scene.
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2.) Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
“Well, whatever you do, however terrible, however hurtful, it all makes sense, doesn't it? In your head. You never meet anybody that thinks they're a bad person.”
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Talk about a creepy fucking dude. Tom Ripley dresses nice, talks nice, but doesn’t play nice. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Damon match this kind of weird since 1999. It was a great year for film and The Talented Mr. Ripley found itself at number five on my Top 5 1999 films list. Everyone is acting at an extremely high level with Damon at the forefront. It was up for five Oscars at the 72nd Academy Awards, but no nod for Damon. That is a crime in my opinion. Tom Ripley starts playing dress up in New York only to end up in Italy killing people. The boat scene with Jude Law is jaw dropping and absolutely unforgettable. A few scenes later, PSH confronts him with his own suspicions and it is a scene to die for. Before you know it, great scenes keep stacking together and the film ends with an evil fucking tone. Damon hasn’t ever been that cold again. Well, he was a real piece of shit in Interstellar, but in such different ways. This Tom Ripley fucker murders people!
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1.) Mike McDermott in Rounders (1998)
“You were lookin' for that third three, but you forgot that Professor Green folded on Fourth Street and now you're representing that you have it. The DA made his two pair, but he knows they're no good. Judge Kaplan was trying to squeeze out a diamond flush but he came up short and Mr. Eisen is futilely hoping that his queens are going to stand up. So like I said, the Dean's bet is $20.”
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Mike McD!!! Rounders is a fantastic film altogether, but it is Matt Damon who carries it with exhilarating style. The film barely made any money and it definitely got overlooked during awards season, but it has since turned into a cult classic. I’m in that cult and I watch this film all the damn time. If I watch something I’m not quite satisfied with then I throw Rounders on right after to cleanse my palette. We got Damon playing a gambling addict and Edward Norton as his delinquent friend Worm. The banter between those two is something else, man. It’s one of those films that had to be a blast to make with Oreos always at arms reach. I’m not a poker player, but I know the rules of the big games like Texas Hold Em’. I’m 24, so I was a kid when the big poker boom came in the early 2000’s. That shit was on ESPN all the time. It still is, but there was a craze 20 years ago and this film rose to cult status because of that. The plot is pretty simple, but the performances are big and the stakes are quite high for McD and Worm. I could watch Rounders once a week and be totally okay with it.
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