Essential Matt Damon

Thursday 11th March 2010 - 10:05:50

In recent years Matt Damon has climbed the Hollywood tree to become of one the most popular and bankable stars.

And he is back on the big screen this week with his war movie Green Zone, which reunites him with Paul Greengrass.

So to celebrate the release of the movie we took a look at some of the essential Matt Damon movies that you need to have in your collection.

- Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting was the movie that marked Damon, as well as his mate Ben Affleck's, arrival on the movie scene as they penned the script as well as starring in the movie.

The movie followed Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT, has a gift for mathematics but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.

For their script the pair won an Screenplay Oscar and Damon also bagged a Best Actor nomination for his central performance.

- Talented Mr Ripley

Written and directed by Anthony Minghella the movie was an adaptation of the 1955 novel by Patricia Highsmith and teamed Damon up with Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.

In late 1950's New York, Tom Ripley, a young underachiever, is sent to Europe to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, named Dickie Greenleaf. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.

While I'm not a fan of the movie myself it was a wonderfully creepy and unsettling performance from Damon, and he was nominated for a Golden Globe.

- Saving Private Ryan

Ok so he may have been in less than half of the movie but we couldn't really miss out one of the best war movies of all time.

Damon was part of an ensemble cast that included Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper and a fresh faced Vin Diesel in the Steven Spielberg directed movie.

If you haven't seen this film then you really have to rent a copy! The movie follows a group of US soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.

The movie was a critical and commercial hit and went on to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, can you believe it lost out to Shakespeare In Love? What were Academy voters thinking that year?

- Ocean's Eleven

But it was 2001 when his career began to really take off as he joined Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the remake of the Rat Pack sixties movies.

Damon took on the role of rookie pick-pocket Linus in the Steven Soderbergh directed movie.

They always say that remakes never really work, but Ocean's Eleven is a movie that bucks that trend; let's face it what's not to like?

A band of thieves and chancers come together to pull off the most daring heist Las Vegas has ever known...11 men, 3 casinos, 150 million dollars, 1 chance to pull it off.

The movie was a critical and commercial hit, however I would advise you to avoid the sequels!