Matt Damon is Freebie Five for many of you and for a long, long time. One of my best friends, Fiona, who is sitting beside me as I write this, has loved Matt Damon forever. I like Matt too. Have always had good feelings for him, especially after observing him working in support of OnexOne. By all accounts, he’s a really, really, really good guy. And he’s only getting better. Which is to say I’m more a fan of him now than I was 10 years ago, but that only became obvious to me when I saw Contagion.
Contagion is not a showcase for great acting. I’m not saying the acting is sh-t, I’m just saying it’s not exactly a character-driven feature. But there is something about the way Matt Damon plays the brave lonely dad - the quiet fury and the restraint too - that is so appealing and so endearing, but also still so believable, even though you think he might be like that in real life anyway...which, interestingly, is the difference between Matt Damon and George Clooney. I’m not distracted by Matt Damon’s Matt Damon-ness when I’m watching a Matt Damon movie. At the same time, while I’m watching a Matt Damon movie, my affection for Matt Damon doesn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of the Matt Damon movie. He is underappreciated for this, I think. But that is his style. It’s why he said recently in an interview that even when he’s in great shape and totally cut, he still won’t allow himself to be filmed without his shirt off. Because that’s never been who he is. Let’s come back this in a minute.
Matt is currently making the press rounds promoting We Bought A Zoo. Reviews have been mixed so far but the main criticism of Zoo seems to be that it’s too sappy. Well, you know, what else can we expect from Cameron Crowe? And it’s the holidays. And have you read Drew McWeeny’s take on it? Because, like, exactly. I feel like I might a Drew on this one. And I’m ordinarily never the Drew. Click here for his review.
And below...
Matt visited Letterman this week.
Guess who came along?
Someone who takes his shirt off.
Here’s your lunch hour viewing. It’s a great interview. He almost always gives a good interview.
