Is it just me, or has Matt Damon really made all the right moves as an actor? Coming into this weekend, he was already riding the reasonable critical and box-office success of Ocean's 13. Prior to that, he had terrific success in The Departed, and his tightly-wound and intense performance there juxtaposed nicely with his stoic and largely internal performance in the less successful The Good Shepherd. That achieved about the same level of success as Syriana, another intelligent thriller that was more admired than loved, and reached about the same box office level (Syriana did $50 million, Shepherd about $60 million).
But his best decision, arguably in both conflicting realms of critical and commercial success, was committing to play Jason Bourne in a series of films that have become better received, and made more money, with each successive sequel.
The latest of these, The Bourne Ultimatum, dominated the weekend box office, bringing in $70 million from 3,660 theatres for a $19k average and managing an astonishing 94% positive rating on rottentomaoes.com.
Well played, Damon. Well played.
It seems to me that there are two factors in Damon's post-Good Will Hunting success that should be recognized, and, if at all possible, emulated by every actor emerging as "The Next Big Thing" (if only I'd written this piece in time to save Matthew McConaughey). The first is trying to work with good people instead of chasing sure-fire box office success. Just look at the directors he's worked with in the last ten years: Paul Greengrass (who garnered his first- I assume there will be more- Oscar nod for United 93 in between Bourne films), Martin Scorcese, Robert de Niro, Steven Soderberg, Stephen Gaghan (who was coming off a screenplay Oscar for Traffic), Terry Gilliam, Robert Redford, Anthony Minghella... these are all people with track records for quality rather than huge success, and for many of them their work with Damon provided the best box office receipts of their careers. Of all these films, only Gilliam's Brother's Grimm and Redford's The Legend of Bagger Vance were total misfires. That's not to say there weren't other misfires (Stuck on You springs immediately to mind, although I quite enjoy Damon's comic timing with Greg Kinnear), but I don't think there's one film in his filmography that I look at and ask, "What was he thinking?"
And how many other actors can you say that about?
The second factor that I think makes Damon so successful is an utter lack of pretension and a willingness to poke fun at himself. You need look no further than his hysterical cameo in the otherwise lackluster Eurotrip, in which he portrays a punked-out lead singer who has been sleeping with the girlfriend of the main character, Scotty. He adds insult to injury by playing a quite catchy tune at a graduation party called 'Scotty Doesn't Know.' Everything else about that movie is forgettable, but Damon belting out the chorus while making out with Scotty's girlfriend on stage is awesome. He also took an amusing turn as a bachelor on The Dating Game in George Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and I've heard him speak with good humor about the mocking marionette Matt Damon in Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Team America: World Police.
As long as he doesn't take himself too seriously, even in some very serious roles (his next project is a drama called Margaret from indie-minded writer/director Kenneth Lonergan), I'd say the future looks pretty bright for that kid.
The future does not look quite as bright for The Simpsons Movie, which crashed 65% this weekend to $25 million and a $125 million total. This means all the ardent fans turned out the first weekend, and aren't providing much in the way of repeat business. Still, the good news for Fox is that it's playing much better overseas than I would have expected, bringing in a little over $100 million already. Opening about as well as it possibly could have in the third spot was the Disney comedy Underdog with $12 million from 4,013 theatres for a decent $3.9k average. A movie like this will do most of its business on video, anyway.
Falling to fourth after a 45% drop was I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with $10.5 million and a $91 million total. It'll finish up on the low end of expectations for a Sandler comedy, but Kevin James will be riding high off of Hitch and now this. Look for a solo project before too long.
Comments (2)
I am not surprised No Rez is essentially flopping. It was exactly like reheated leftovers, in spite of the star power.
Nicely done, but lacked 'oomph'.
And the less said about Bratz, the better, I would think. It's just visual junk to promote more junk (dolls).
I really don't know what I'd do if I was a parent and my 8-10-13 year old girl wanted to dress slutty like Britnee or Lindzee or Hilaree or these trampy dolls. Could Western society get any more sexualised? Does anyone wonder why pedophilia is so rampant these days?
UGH!
1 of 2 | Posted by Donna Martin Graduates!![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasm/nav-commenters.gif)
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Posted on August 9, 2007 12:01 PM
Oh, yeah. Matt Damon. Yes, he certainly has made all the right moves. Especially if you (inevitably) compare his career (but presumably not his bank account?) with best bud Ben Aff.
Also, you know the story about how the South Park guys bear Matt no ill will; it's just that the marionette looked so DUMB (which it really does) that they couldn't conceive of it saying much more than its name all the time! Which we routinely do every time we see him. That shit never gets old.
2 of 2 | Posted by Donna Martin Graduates!![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasm/nav-commenters.gif)
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Posted on August 9, 2007 12:05 PM