Arguably, Matt Damon’s films are among the best films of the current era. The actor began his career in 1988 at the age of 18 and more than thirty years later has appeared in nearly a hundred films and television shows as an actor, while writing and producing others.
If the awards are a testament to an actor’s greatness, then Damon might as well be considered one of the best, since he’s won almost everything from the Oscars to the Golden Globes to the People’s Choice Awards and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, among other awards and nominations.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of the actor or not, there are plenty of Matt Damon movies everyone should watch. We’ve rounded up the top 15.
The best Matt Damon movies to watch
1. Hunting at Will (1997)
While it’s not necessarily the best movie that Matt Damon has been a part of, it’s probably his greatest performance to date. He stars as a caretaker, Will Hunting, who turns out to be a genius capable of solving a seemingly unsolvable math problem that led to him being discovered.
With an Oscar-worthy performance, the actor went home with an Oscar nomination as well as a Golden Globe nomination, both in the Best Actor category.
2. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Of the many characters Matt has played over the years, it’s safe to say that 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, imitating others, and forging signatures. He is hired by a wealthy man to bring his rebellious son, Dickie, home.
This 1999 film, adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name, earned Damon another Golden Globe nomination.
3. The Deceased (2006)
Surprisingly, it’s one of the most underrated roles the actor has played over the years, even though it’s one of Matt Damon’s finest films.
He plays the role of a villain, Colin Sullivan, who works for a syndicate boss by infiltrating the police department and reporting on his activities. What makes this movie more interesting is that just as Colin infiltrated the police, Billy Costigan, a cop played by Leonardo DiCaprio, infiltrated the organization.
4. The Martian (2015)
In this film, Damon showed what he really is made of as an actor, and that earned him another Academy Award nomination for acting as well as a Golden Globe Award. In the film, Matt, who portrays Mark Watney, gets lost in space where he would have died. He would have to find a way to survive on his own before he could be found and saved.
Alone in space, Damon is able to hold viewers’ interest with his superior acting skills that have earned him much respect.
5. True Grit (2010)
It was an adventurous project of the Fellow Brothers when they decided to remake the classic film that won an Oscar in 1969 for John Wayne as Best Actor. The film has Matt Damon playing a Texas Ranger, LaBeouf, who teams up with Cogburn (Bridges) to find Tom Chaney (Brolin) for the murders he committed.
Along with his acting skills which almost always show, Damon’s performance is fun due to the comedic side he displays in the film.
6. Invictus (2009)
It is a biographical film about South Africa Legendary leader Nelson Mandela and the events of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. While Morgan Freeman stars as Nelson Mandela in the Clint Eastwood directed film, Damon stars as the captain of the South African rugby union team, Francois Pienaar, who led the undefeated South African team to win the gold medal in a tournament hosted by the country.
Both Freeman and Damon are exceptional in the film which earned Oscar nominations as well as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe nominations for both actors.
7. The Bourne Series (2002, 2004, 2007 and 2016)
Collecting the Bourne series together might not do justice to what Matt Damon has achieved with the franchise which is one of his best performances as an actor. Damon takes on the role of Jason Bourne, a high-ranking CIA assassin who now suffers from dissociative amnesia. This means that he has to find out who he really is on the one hand and on the other hand he has to stay alive.
Although his performance on the show is unforgettable, his most significant performance was in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) which could pass as the best of the franchise. In the same way, he also made great strides in The Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), and Jason Bourne (2016).
8. The informant! (2009)
Matt Damon plays in this biographical role of Mark Whitacre, a man with a very promising career in agriculture, but who must play a spy role. The intense psychological talent with which Damon is known did not fail him here.
It was another Matt Damon film that earned the actor another Golden Globe Award nomination. Even more, it earned him a number of awards including a Satellite Award.
9. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Saving Private Ryan is one of the best movies Matt Damon has had a role in, although it’s not his greatest performance considering Tom Hanks is the star of the show. Nevertheless, Damon’s performance still allows him to make it onto this list.
Playing the role of James Ryan in the film, he is the last survivor 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 to stay alive.
10. Interstellar (2014)
There are films in which one would only get small roles while leaving an overwhelming impression. That’s what Damon managed to achieve with this film.
The science fiction directed by Christopher Nolan tells a story that takes place at a time when human existence is threatened and a new home is sought on another planet. Damon stars as Mann and had little screen time in the film.
11. Behind the Candelabra (2013)
This film directed by Steven Soderbergh is intense in many ways and the main characters; Matt Damon, who represents Scott Thorson, and Michael Douglas, who represents the famous American singer and pianist Liberace, lived up to his expectations. The film is a biographical work that captures the last years of the pianist’s life. He takes the much younger Thorson as his lover, but he soon begins to be neglectful while Thorson takes to 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)
Several years after School Ties was released, it still finds its place among the most beautiful films of Matt Damon who was only 22 years old when he was offered the role of Charlie Dillon.
In his career, Damon has played many hero roles in movies, but this time he plays the villain in this anti-Semitic film in which David Greene (Brendan Fraser) is intimidated by Matt Damon’s character after discovering that he is Jewish.
13. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Yet another Matt Damon movie directed by Steven Soderbergh to make the list. It’s a great action movie that features some of the best actors such as George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Bernie Mac. At first, Matt was not part of the film but was later replaced by Mark Wahlberg who was leaving to star in the Planet of the Apes remake . Although he didn’t have a major role, he still made his usual good impression.
14. The Rainmaker (1997)
Although very early in his acting career, Matt Damon appeared alongside actors such as Danny DeVito, Danny Glover and Claire Danes in this film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and adapted from the novel by John Grisham published in 1995 under the same name.
Damon comes across as a young lawyer who comes through his upbringing and is still trying to find his way. But then he looks for an opportunity to start his own practice and is now in a legal battle against an insurance company.
It has been nominated for Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and ALFS Awards.
15. Courage Under Fire (1996)
There are those who will still argue if this should be among Matt Damon’s best films. We think it should be. It was one of his first roles that made it clear he was destined to be a great actor. He appeared alongside Denzel Washington, who is the main character.
While preparing for his role in the film, Matt lost 20 kg so he could act out his addiction scenes.