best film: Damon has been in some excellent movies since his first archiveable film in 1996’s Courage Under Fire. The choice for absolute best film comes down to either Saving Private Ryan or The Departed. I think I’ll give the slight edge to the visual brilliance in Spielberg film over the narrative genius in Scorsese’s film (that’s a sentence I never thought I’d write/say—wow). Damon plays an underappreciatedly important role in both- really solid work.
best performance: This one is a toss-up as well but between two different films (already with these four we have signs that Damon has a great filmography). It’s between Good Will Hunting and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Archetypes exist for a reason and a coming of age story and character this riddled with clichés (on paper) shouldn’t be as good as it or he is in Good Will Hunting. I think that’s my pick. Backing that up is the darkly complex turn as Tom Ripley in Minghella’s beautiful film.
stylistic innovations/traits: From the beginning with Courage Under Fire Damon was ultra-dedicated to his craft (he had to be checked into the hospital for the working out and weight loss for the role). He then wrote his own part in Good Will Hunting and bet on himself as an actor- smart move. He’s been in 18 archiveable films already (under the age of 50 still) and has put himself in the hands of some great auteurs (see below). I don’t think of him as an overly talented actor but he’s had several career runs (1997-1999) and (2006-2007) where he is excellent in top 5 of the year-quality movies. That’s tough to do. There are plenty of actors on this less who are not excellent in five top five of the year movies. He adds depth to his filmography with some of the Soderbergh films and clearly can do action (Bourne) as well as drama. I also think it speaks to his skill as an actor that he’s never blown off the screen by more talented actors (DiCaprio, Hanks, Norton).
directors worked with: Soderbergh (5) and counting—Greengrass (2), and then once a piece with Van Sant, Spielberg, Nolan, Minghella, Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and the Coen Brothers.
Top 5 Performances:
- Good Will Hunting
- The Talented Mr. Ripley
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- The Departed
- Saving Private Ryan
Archiveable films
| 1996- Courage Under Fire |
| 1997- Good Will Hunting |
| 1998- Rounders |
| 1998- Saving Private Ryan |
| 1999- The Talented Mr. Ripley |
| 2001- Ocean’s Eleven |
| 2005- Syriana |
| 2006- The Departed |
| 2007- Ocean’s Thirteen |
| 2007- The Bourne Ultimatum |
| 2009- The Informant |
| 2010- Green Zone |
| 2010- True Grit |
| 2011- Contagion |
| 2011- Margaret |
| 2013- Behind the Candelabra |
| 2014- Interstellar |
| 2015- The Martian |
Is bourne ultimatum supposed to be a lot better than the first 2? 2 and 3 are shaky cam garbage, why do you list ultimatum as the only one in the archives just curious, is 3 much, much better than the first 2 in your opinion?
@Dylan- It has been a minute since I’ve seen 1 and 2 but if you think they are “shaky cam garbage” then you may not be onboard with the Greengrass aesthetic and may not care for 3. I do think Ultimatum is correctly singled out usually as the best of the series
Yes i dont like greengrass at all, I thought Liman’s was way better, but I don’t really care for Bourne movies in the first place that much. I didn’t care for captain phillips or united 93 either. You think identity and supremacy aren’t even worthy of being archived though while ultimatum is? Is the gap difference between Ultimatum and the other 2 that big?
Greengrass’s style is a lot more action-ey than Liman’s, which tries too hard to be James Bond (Potente’s character is one example of this), and it works much better. And “shakey cam garbage” is garbage. Really has the same energy as “I didn’t like Drive because Ryan Gosling didn’t talk much”, it’s an artistic choice and it adds to the intensity of the action sequences.
Well I’ll disagree, I much prefer John Wick to Bourne and he doesn’t even have a single John Wick in the archives. I like how theres none of the shaky cam, and Keanu is obviously way better for action than Damon, and of course rated R vs PG13. Speaking of Drive, I dunno how anyone can not like Drive, that movie is one of the best of the 2010’s. Also, I prefer Mission Impossible movies to Bourne, I don’t think the M:I movies have much of the shaky cam but that isn’t why I prefer it.
@Dylan All 3 are great. Gotta give the slight edge to ultimatum.
“Shaky cam garbage”… Seriously?
I have not seen the bourne films yet but they sound good. Not a fan of shaky cam though. I saw drake had the 2007 one in the top 500. Are they the types you watch in order or does it not matter?
It doesn’t really matter, especially with the third one.
He is also in The Bourne Supremacy(2004) and Thor: Ragnarok(2017). Unlike Ford V Ferrari those films were released when this page was published. So you might have forgotten those two.
@Anderson- I do have these accounted for on my end- thanks. So I must have archived these films after the page.