2. “The Martian” (2015)
There’s an internet meme discussing just how much money and how many lives have been expended bringing Damon’s characters back from inaccessible places, but Ridley Scott‘s surprise hit, based on Andy Weir‘s bestselling novel, suggests that it might all have been worthwhile. It’s hard to conceive of any other major star who could pull off this deceptively challenging role so effortlessly: let’s not forget that this chatty, funny and remarkably pacy film is largely just Damon spouting gobbits of science to himself while 50 million miles away, a stacked supporting cast (Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Donald Glover, Jeff Daniels and Chiwetel Ejiofor) chew on pencils worriedly. But his inherent likability has never been put to better use than here, as the incredibly resourceful stranded astronaut Mark Watney, who not only manages to to keep himself alive on Mars by “sciencing the shit” out of things, he also manages to stay sane despite the isolation. “The Martian” is such an upbeat and optimistic film that it gives a false impression of the survivability of such a situation, but that quality of positivity, fueled by Damon’s engaging, can-do, game-for-anything approach to the role, is also undoubtedly what powered this otherwise quite prosaic sci-fi tale past $630 million worldwide.
1. “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999)
There is an essential niceness to Damon. It’s an inescapable, underlying sense that he’s a guy you’d like to have a beer with. But it’s also fundamentally unthreatening— which is why he is such a continual surprise when he does bulked-up and vengeful, as in the ‘Bourne’ movies, or when he subverts his stolid decency as in “Margaret,” or, to best-ever effect, in Anthony Minghella’s take on Patricia Highsmith‘s classic sunshine noir. It’s a film that only grows in esteem as time passes and an early career high for all its young cast, from a never more golden Jude Law, to Gwyneth Paltrow oozing sophistication and petulance in equal measure, to Philip Seymour Hoffman‘s sly, jealous nemesis. But all of it revolves around Damon’s oddly heartrending portrayal of the moral vacuum that is Tom Ripley, a homicidal sociopath caught in the throes of gay panic and terrifyingly covetous social envy. It’s a role that allows this consummate underplayer to be simultaneously dorky, seductive, naive, heartbroken, creepy and murderous —sometimes Damon seems to summon all of these impulses in one hesitant, desperate smile. Of all the screen Ripleys (yes, even Dennis Hopper), Damon’s read on the chimeric character is perhaps the most compelling: he plays him as just self-aware enough to be afraid of dark, cavernous emptiness within, but not strong enough to resist it.
Special Commendation: “30 Rock”
One regrettable exclusion, purely because it was just a small multi-episode arc on a TV show, is Damon’s outstanding moment as Liz Lemon’s (Tina Fey) pilot boyfriend Carol Burnett (yes, Carol Burnett… GOD we miss “30 Rock”). Appearing in just 4 episodes in seasons 4 and 5, his finest contribution to the show is probably in the great “Double-edged Sword,” when Carol and Liz break up after his plane, on which she is a passenger, is delayed for unexplained hours on the tarmac. As much as we like his overtly comedic turns even in lackluster films like “Stuck on You” and “The Brothers Grimm,” it’s Damon’s time on “30 Rock” (as well as “The Informant!” to be fair) that convinces us more than anything that there’s a Damon-headed comedy masterpiece waiting to happen.
Honorable mentions
If you haven’t thought about it too deeply, it might seem like overkill that we even went to 12 entries on a Best Matt Damon Performances list. But to even glance at his IMDB page is to realize we could have made this list much longer: Damon’s an incredibly prolific performer, much in demand as both a lead and an ensemble player. One crucial early role we excluded just because it’s so small, is as Private Ryan in Spielberg’s war epic “Saving Private Ryan,” but though he doesn’t appear until an hour 40 minutes into the film and is necessarily a kind of anticlimax, Damon’s everyman charisma makes the moment believable but also touchingly memorable.
He was also good Kevin Smith’s messily entertaining “Dogma” alongside pal Ben Affleck, and in Gus Van Sant’s so-so “Gerry,” alongside Ben’s brother Casey. “The Good Shepherd” sees him on typically solid form, though the film is dull as dishwater; “Green Zone” is the Greengrass collaboration everyone forgets, but it’s typically lean and pacy stuff; George Nolfi‘s “The Adjustment Bureau” doesn’t ever quite convince in its more fanciful leanings, but Damon and Emily Blunt almost rescue it; “Syriana” hasn’t aged as well as some of these others, but is still a sincere effort; and he’s certainly not the problem with “Elysium,” Neill Blomkamp‘s disappointing sci-fi. We could go on, but we’ll hand over to you instead: tell us your favorite Damon performances in the comments.
