Ask and ye shall recieve

I got a comment the other day requesting a topic

"hows about a post on how boring his friend matt damon is?
i don't get the whole "matt damon" thing. other than his work in "good will hunting", the man is a walking sedative.
they both seem like nice guys, but i find 'em decidedly uninteresting as actors.
though to damon's credit, he's not quite as hapless as affleck seems in serious roles."

Well thank you for your comment anonymous person, I shall do my best to oblige.

In general I think of Matt Damon as a pretty decent and capable actor. I thought he was absolutely brilliant in "Good will Hunting", "The Talented Mr. Ripley", and "The Departed." He gave good performances as Jason Bourne and as Linus from the Oceans 11 series, but they are just good they are not one of a kind unforgettable performances.

I guess this is where we get into my real opinion of Matt Damon. I think he is a solid and capable actor, but I feel that he is missing that edge of danger and excitement which makes other actors so exciting to watch. He gives a very good performance, but he never seems to take it to the next level. He never seems to give his performances that air of spontaneity or danger. I believe that is the difference between a great actor and a legendary actor.

Back in the day people would line up to see Marlin Brando perform in the stage version "Streetcar Named Desire." At that point in time they would end scenes with all the actors frozen in place. Every single actor would stay frozen in place till the curtain had fully lowered, all except Brando. Before the curtain fully went down he would walk off stage. Some have compared watching a Brando performance to watching a caged lion, there was always this feeling like you wouldn't know what he was going to do next. In "Apocalypse Now" Marlon Brando did not memorize his lines, he had them written in random places around the set, so that with each line you would see the struggle as he tried to grasp hold of what he was going to say next. It doesn't seem ike it would make that big of a difference, but that extra struggle made his mesmorising to watch.

Matt Damon just doesn't have that edge. I hate to use baseball metaphors, largely because I hate baseball. Nevertheless, if Hollywood was a team Matt Damon would be one of the starters, and he would be a very solid, reliable, well rounded player yet he would never hit it out of the park or make one of those crazy darring saves. He is the guy you would want on your team, but he would not be your star player. With the exception of "The Talented Mr Ripley" there hasn't been a single role he played that couldn't be played by someone else. Mind you there are millions and millions out there who could not perform half as well as he did. Yet Matt Damon has yet to create a role so distinct that you can't imagine it being played by someone else.

Think about it, can you imagine someone other then Johnny Depp being Captain Jack Sparrow, or someone other then Heath Ledger playing the Joker in "Dark Knight"; you probably can't. There is a certain recklessness in those performances that can't be repeated in the same way by anyone else. Mind you Matt Damon's lack of recklessness makes him a much more reliable actor, but it also means that he has yet to do anything truly great and unique. Of course he is still fairly young, who knows we may still see Matt Damon make the performance of a lifetime.

Ben Afleck on the other hand is someone whose talent I can't comment on. He has yet to choose a role which can really show his range as an actor. I'm not saying he is a great actor or a terrible one for that matter. Thus far his greatest failing as an actor is that he does not make good choices about what films to be in.

There are great actors that suffer from this same affliction, look at Cuba Gooding Jr. He gave a great performance in Jerry McGuire, and although very few people saw it he completly stole the show in "Lightning Jack." Yet the man keeps choosing terrible movies like "Daddy Day Care" and has lost any credibility that he may have had from getting an Oscar.

The only movies that Ben Afleck has been in besides "Good will Hunting" that were worth watching were Kevin Smith movies (not including Jersey Girl) and while they are really enjoyable, they arn't the most challenging roles. The other movies he chose to be in were all just sort of inexcusably bad movies. I mean I'm sure he is happy that he did "Daredevil" because thats where he met his wife, but most of his choices can't be explained that well. I am sure Ben Afleck is at least a decent actor, but I have no idea if he is capeable of greatness or not because he has yet to choose a single role that would allow him to showcase real talent.

They both seem like nice guys. I have really enjoyed some of their movies. But I will agree with you wholeheartedly dear reader while they may be capeable, they arn't the most exciting actors to watch. There are lots of good actors in this world, but there are few truly great ones.