Why does Matt Damon suck now?

I will confess that I was finding it tedious and then Clooney gave his rah-rah speech over the radio and I was out. I love him and he's done some amazing work, but that shit clanged so hard it nearly deafened me.

 

Oop-
Yes, that was it. I think.
It was about a Jewish student forced to hide his identity within the cloistered environment of a prep academy.
It starred the dude who later was in The Mummy.

 

Yup. That was School Ties, and Brendan Fraser did play the main character before going on to the Mummy movies. Chris O'Donnell and Ben Affleck were also in that one.

I actually saw that one in the theater. Even with the football connection, it wasn't something I would have chosen, but when the girl looks like that, you let her choose the movie.

 

Well, my better senses tell me I should just take this as a concession of "No, I'm incapable of explaining..." and move on.

But, as one masochistically inclined to reject his better senses, I feel like pursuing the question anyways, because I'm just curious to hear how you came to such a differing conclusion than myself. What precisely did you think was so "awful" about his Departed performance? It certainly didn't lack for any sort of accent or cultural authenticity reasons, instead that Bostie role was squarely in his wheelhouse--a role he culturally seemed born to play. He didn't overact it, and I thought he nailed the tone of the part rather perfectly. Who do you think could've played that role better?

If he was supposedly "awful" in that role, I've no idea why, and I'd think the guy making the accusation might be able to provide some coherent words to back his view.

 

oop, take this from your Uncle Fart for your next date, always let the lady pick the movie, no matter what she looks like.

 

Fart, I've been married for over 18 years and she and I share the movie choosing quite well. Sometimes we choose together. Sometimes I choose one I know she will like Sometimes she chooses one she knows I will like. Sometimes little OOP chooses for both of us. I still haven't forgiven my wife for Muriel's Wedding (that was a DVD rental), but otherwise we do just fine.

School Ties was from my college days. Very different circumstances with a very different woman.

 

I've long felt The Departed is one of the most overrated films of this era. A logical mess. Everyone wanted Marty to win an Oscar and it had some good individual performances, but none of them matched up all that well, Damon's included.

Damon is interesting to me in that he seems caught exactly between being a character actor and being a leading man. He's good at character stuff (Talented Mr. Ripley) and good at being a leading man (The Martian) but not great at either. He's good in Bourne stuff, but those movies aren't really about him. He's good in stuff like Oceans 11/12/13, but again, he's not the reason two of those films worked. (Quick Oceans 12 rant with spoilers: There has never been a dumber twist in a movie than Julia Roberts' character playing "Julia Roberts" because Danny and Rusty realize she happens to look like Julia Roberts and can use it as part of their scam.)

He seems like he's spent most of his career trying to push himself and play roles that don't box him into any one thing, but he's not really great at any of it. He's good. And he weirdly seems to give some of his worst performances when he's trying to be a serious actor and some of his better ones when he's more lighthearted. Or at least movies that break up their serious moments with levity, like Rounders or GWH or The Martian or Oceans.

 

oop, I think the worst one Wife of Fart ever chose was the Nicolas Cage vehicle, Knowing.
The goofiest sci-fi film I have ever seen. Worthy of being MST-ied.

 

Still waiting for someone to explain what happens to Leo’s stupid drug dealing cousin in that movie. He just disappears without explanation.

 

I hated Ocean's 12. It was like paying to watch a bunch of millionaires hang out with their fabulous friends in exotic locations and have what I'm sure was the best possible time making a shit movie.

 

Damon skipped the premiere for Downizing:

Matt Damon Skips 'Downsizing' Premiere Amid Sexual Misconduct Remarks Backlash

And the Thai actress I referred to, Hong Chau, is Vietnamese. She was born in a refugee camp in Thailand.

 

Accusation? It's a fucking movie. This isn't a Film Studies 101 final. I found his character to be uninteresting and shallow. I liked the scenes without him better than the scenes with him. Except the one at the end.