Seven Matt Damon movies you should’ve seen by now

WHO doesn’t love Matt Damon? He’s the quintessential everyman with movie star appeal. Make sure you’ve seen these flicks.

SERIOUSLY, who doesn’t love Matt Damon?

With his range to play the nice guy to the bad guy to the creepy guy to the morally complex guy, from comedy to action thriller to sombre dramas, Damon is the charismatic Hollywood superstar with everyman appeal.

He’s also the kind of who would never get a neck (or full back) tattoo in the throes of a middle-age crisis.

With five Oscar nominations and one win under his belt, he also has a knack for choosing (mostly) the right projects, especially in his longstanding collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh.

So have you seen these seven quintessential Matt Damon movies?

THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY

Patricia Highsmith knows how to write a great thriller and Anthony Minghella knew exactly what to do to adapt it for the big screen — and that is to cast Damon as Tom Ripley, the complex, insecure and obsessive young man.

A small time fraudster, Tom meets the charmed Dickie Greenleaf and his girlfriend Marge in Italy and he is immediately infatuated, not just with Dickie but with becoming Dickie. It’s a chilling portrayal of a sexually repressed sociopath.

Watch it: Stan and Amazon Prime Video

Single White Male

GOOD WILL HUNTING

Damon had plenty of credits before this but Good Will Hunting announced the arrival of a major star — that he and buddy Ben Affleck wrote the screenplay also cemented his status as a real force to watch.

He plays Will Hunting, a maths genius hiding in plain site as a janitor at MIT, forced into therapy as part of a deal after a court appearance. The thing that makes Good Will Hunting such a satisfying movie is Damon’s dynamic presence with Robin Williams, who portrays the therapist who encourages him to harness his gift and believe in himself.

Watch it: Stan and Amazon Prime Video

The mark of a cute guy in the 90s: Floppy blond hair

THE MARTIAN

Matt Damon really deserved to take home the Oscar for his commanding performance here, especially when you consider that the man who beat him, Leonardo DiCaprio, mostly grunted and eye-popped his way to the podium.

Damon plays an astronaut and botanist stranded on Mars after his colleagues believed he was killed in a dust storm. It’s a stunning tale of survival, one with triumphs, defeats and heart. You won’t fail to cheer when Whatney, using his smarts and instincts, successfully grows his first potato crop.

Watch it: iTunes

He was robbed! Robbed! (Aidan Monaghan/20th Century Fox via AP)

BOURNE ULTIMATUM

The Bourne movies actually changed the course of the James Bond movies, that’s how influential they were. And while The Bourne Identity kicked things into gear, by The Bourne Ultimatum five years later, Damon and the franchise are confident and sharp, making this the most compelling chapter of the five.

In the hands of Damon and director Paul Greengrass, The Bourne Ultimatum is a viscerally thrilling action movie with a killer pace, and that Waterloo Station sequence is one of the tensest and most pulsing moments on film.

Watch it: Netflix

Bourne, Jason Bourne

THE INFORMANT!

From a stream of consciousness voiceover about polar bears’ black noses to the increasingly complex web of lies, The Informant!, directed by Steven Soderbergh is an underappreciated entry in the Damon canon.

The true-life story of Mark Whitacre, a corporate whistleblower, the film is a perfect cross-section for Damon’s everyman appeal and his comedic timing, and he nails the slow disintegration of a man way over his head. Bonus: The Informant! Has some great supporting performances from Melanie Lynskey, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Tony Hale.

Watch it: iTunes

‘How do polar bears know their noses are black?’

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA

Damon and Michael Douglas’ portrayal of the tender, charged and tempestuous relationship between Liberace and his younger, bisexual lover Scott Thorson are testament to the power of these performers.

Behind the Candelabra is a mad, indulgent, luxurious, scandalous, camp, funny, touching, unapologetic and completely insane experience, one you have to see for yourself to believe.

Watch it: Stan

‘A thousand times yes!’

THE DEPARTED

The Departed is more of an ensemble movie than a “Matt Damon movie” but as Colin Sullivan, he was really able to explore the duality of playing a bad guy pretending to be a nice guy, especially with his actual reputation of being a nice guy. Oh boy, so many guys.

Even if you’re not a Damon fan, The Departed is a definite must-see, a crime thriller set in the world of Boston gangsters and a compromised police force. It’s brutally violent, morally iffy but so bloody watchable.

Watch it: Netflix

What a trustworthy face

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