15 Of The Finest Matt Damon Movies You Need To See

15 Of The Finest Matt Damon Movies You Need To See

Arguably, Matt Damon movies are some of the finest movies of the present era. The actor started his career in 1988 when he was just 18 and more than three decades later, he has appeared in close to a hundred movies and TV shows as an actor while he has also written and produced others.

If awards are a testament of the greatness of an actor, then Damon may as well go down as one of the greatest as he has won almost everything from the Academy Awards to the Golden Globe Awards, People’s Choice Awards, and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, among various other awards and nominations.

It doesn’t really matter if you are a fan of the actor or not, there are many Matt Damon movies that everyone should watch. We have collected the finest 15.

Finest Matt Damon Movies You Need To See

1. Good Will Hunting (1997)

15 Of The Finest Matt Damon Movies You Need To See
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While this may not necessarily be the best film that Matt Damon has been a part of, it is probably his greatest performance yet. He plays the role of a janitor, Will Hunting, who turns out to be a genius who is able to solve a seemingly unsolvable math problem that led him to be discovered.

With an Oscar deserving performance, the actor went home with an Academy Awards Nomination as well as a Golden Globe nomination both for the category of best actor.

2. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Of the many characters that Matt has played over the years, one can make bold to say this is one of the most entertaining. He plays the role of Tom Ripley, a man with many interesting talents such as lying and getting away with it, impersonating people, and forging signatures. He is hired by a wealthy man to get his wayward son, Dickie, back home.

This 1999 movie which was adapted from the novel of Patricia Highsmith with the same name, earned Damon another Golden Globe nomination.

3. The Departed (2006)

Surprisingly enough, this is one of the most underrated roles that the actor has played over the years, even though it is among the finest Matt Damon Movies.

He plays the role of a villain, Colin Sullivan who works for a syndicate boss by infiltrating the police department and reporting on its activities. What makes this movie more interesting is that just as Colin has infiltrated the police, so also has Billy Costigan, a cop played by Leonardo DiCaprio also infiltrated the organization.

4. The Martian (2015)

15 Of The Finest Matt Damon Movies You Need To See
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In this movie, Damon showed what he is really made of as an actor, and that clinched another Academy Awards nomination for the actor as well as a Golden Globe Award. In the movie, Matt who portrays Mark Watney gets lost in space where he is believed to be dead. He would have to find a way of surviving on his own before he can be found and rescued.

Being in space alone, Damon is able to hold the interest of viewers with his superior acting skills which have gained much respect for him.

5. True Grit (2010)

This is an adventurous project by the Coen brothers when they decided to remake the classic film that won an Oscar in 1969 for John Wayne as Best Actor. The movie has Matt Damon who portrays a Texas Ranger LaBeouf, teaming up with Cogburn (Bridges) to find Tom Chaney (Brolin) for murders he committed.

Apart from his great acting skills that almost always show, the performance of Damon is entertaining because of the comedic side he displays in the movie.

6. Invictus (2009)

This is a biographical movie about South Africa’s legendary leader, Nelson Mandela, and the events of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. While Morgan Freeman plays the role of Nelson Mandela in the Clint Eastwood directed movie, Damon takes the role of the captain of the South Africa rugby union team, François Pienaar, who led the undefeated South African team to clinch the gold medal in a tournament hosted by the country.

Both Freeman and Damon are exceptional in the film which gained Academy Awards nominations as well as Golden Globes nominations for best actor and best supporting actor for both actors.

7. The Bourne Series (2002, 2004, 2007, 2016)

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Collecting the Bourne Series altogether may not do justice to what Matt Damon has achieved with the franchise which is one of his best performances as an actor. Damon takes the role of Jason Bourne, a top CIA assassin who now suffers from dissociative amnesia. This means that he has to find out who he really is on one hand, and on another, he has to remain alive.

While his performance in the series is unforgettable, his most important performance was in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) which may pass as the best in the franchise. In the same way, he has also done great in The Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), and Jason Bourne (2016).

8. The Informant! (2009)

In this biographical work, Matt Damon plays the role of Mark Whitacre, a man with a very promising agricultural career but finds himself having to play an espionage role. The psychological intense talent that Damon has come to be known with has not failed him here.

This is another Matt Damon movie that earned the actor another Golden Globe Award nomination. More so, it earned him a number of awards among which is a Satellite Award.

9. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Saving Private Ryan is one of the best movies that Matt Damon has played a role in, although it is not his greatest performance considering that Tom Hanks is the star of the show. Nonetheless, the performance of Damon still makes it fit for him to have a place on this list.

Playing the role of James Ryan in the film, he is the last surviving of four brothers and is now in the enemy line. Tom Hanks who plays Captain John Miller, now leads his men to find and rescue Ryan who is also trying on his own to stay alive.

10. Interstellar (2014)

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There are some movies in which one would only get to have little roles but would still leave an overwhelming impression. That is what Damon got to achieve with this film.

The Christopher Nolan-directed science fiction tells a story that is set at a time when human existence is under threat and so a new home is being sought for on another planet. Damon plays the role of Mann and only had limited screen time in the movie.

11. Behind the Candelabra (2013)

This Steven Soderbergh-directed movie is intense in many ways and the lead characters; Matt Damon who portrays Scott Thorson and Michael Douglas who portrays famous American singer and pianist, Liberace, live up to expectations. The film is a biographical work that captures the final years of the life of the pianist. He takes the much younger Thorson as his lover but he soon starts being promiscuous while Thorson gets into drug addiction.

For his role in the film, Matt was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globes, and British Academy Film Awards among others.

12. School Ties (1992)

Many years after School Ties was released, it still finds its place among the finest films of Matt Damon who was only 22 when he was offered the role of Charlie Dillon.

In his career, Damon has played many hero roles in movies but this time around, he plays the villain in this anti-Semitism movie in which David Greene (Brendan Fraser) is being bullied by Matt Damon’s character after he finds out he is Jewish.

13. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

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Yet another of Matt Damon’s movies directed by Steven Soderbergh to make the list. This is a great action film that collects some of the best actors out there such as George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Bernie Mac among others. At first, Matt was not a part of the movie but was later brought in as a replacement for Mark Wahlberg who left to star in the remake of Planet of the Apes. Although he did not get a major role, he still made his usual good impression.

14. The Rainmaker (1997)

Though quite early in his career as an actor, Matt Damon appeared alongside actors like Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, and Claire Danes in this movie that was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and adapted from John Grisham’s 1995 novel under the same name.

Damon appears as a young lawyer who is freshly through with his education and is still trying to find his way around. But then, he hits upon a chance to start his own practice and he is now in a legal battle with an insurance company.

He got a Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination and also an ALFS Award nomination.

15. Courage Under Fire (1996)

There are those that will still argue if this should be among the finest Matt Damon movies. We think it should be. This is one of his earliest roles that have made it clear that he was destined to be a great actor. He appeared alongside Denzel Washington who is the lead character.

While preparing for his role in the movie, Matt lost 40 pounds in order to play his addiction scenes.

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