Matt Damon: 7 Moments of Unmatched Damonesque Glory – Top

There’s an intriguing duality to the characters of Matthew Paige Damon. They’re affable, charming, and good-natured. They’re also a little douchey, prone to buffoonery, and at times can’t seem to stop getting in their own way.

Damon strikes this balance better than anyone in the last 20 years, and it can only be because of his innate Damonness. Ladies and Afflecks, it’s time to celebrate seven times Matt Damon tipped the scales of Damonicity.

 

1. The time Matt Damon liked them apples in Good Will Hunting

Let’s start with the obvious. Matt Damon, as troubled genius Will Hunting, schools some punk-ass Harvard tool on the finer points of Gordon Wood and Danny Vickers before likening his entire education to a buck-fifty in late charges – excuse me, chahges – at the public library.

The best part? His entire monologue was done reluctantly. It was a last resort to defend his friend Chucky (Ben Affleck), who hit a snag hitting on some Harvard girls when the Michael Bolton clone showed up. (A pitcher of the finest lager in the house says Damon has had to do this for Affleck in real life.) Will ended up impressing one of the girls so much that she gave him his number on a piece of scrap paper, which Will later smacked onto a diner window while asking the Harvard clown inside, “How do you like them apples?”

 

2. The time Matt Damon was looking for some “Hot Stuff” in The Martian

We all know America has spent a Scrooge McDuck’s worth of money bringing back Matt Damon from the brink of death, but instead of blaming him there might be room for pity. As Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars in The Martian, one of his biggest problems is that Commander Lewis’ (Jessica Chastain) collection of disco music is all he has to listen to. At first, he outright refuses to “turn the beat around,” before eventually jamming to Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” with plutonium riding in the backseat of his rover. Just like Damon to turn deadly chemicals into lemonade.

 

3. The time Matt Damon told a silly story moments before a World War II battle in Saving Private Ryan

Eight guys risked their lives during World War II to save the life of Private James Ryan after his four brothers were killed in combat. Ryan turned out to be a decent enough fellow, refusing to leave his brothers in arms to fight undermanned against the Nazis. And yet, he couldn’t help himself from some quirky reminiscing just moments before the biggest battle of their lives.

Everyone knows that if you tell a story where you had to be there, the story shouldn’t be told at all. Everyone except Ryan, apparently. He cracks himself up while recounting a tale of slapstick raunchiness involving his brothers on the eve of their departure to basic training. As Ryan can’t keep the smile off his face, expedition leader Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) wears a look that clearly says, “Who the hell is this guy, and why did I cross Europe to save him?”

 

4. The time Matt Damon inconvenienced people in an elevator to get a woman’s phone number in The Departed

Okay, okay, so Matt Damon’s usual on-screen schtick isn’t much like Colin Sullivan, the mob member masquerading as a cop in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. Yet, there’s a moment that is straight out of the Damon character’s playbook.

He’s in an elevator with Madolyn (Vera Farmiga) and begins flirting with her. When she gets off to go about her day, does he let the moment pass? Of course not. He holds the door open as the people inside wait for him to continue flirting shamelessly. He even makes these people wait longer when, after Madolyn offers her number, he makes a lame joke about not needing it because he’s a cop and he can find her. Ha. Ha.

 

5. The time Matt Damon held onto just one picture of his late girlfriend in The Bourne Supremacy

Matt Damon does not typically play characters like Jason Bourne. As with Sullivan, though, there are a few moments where the similarities shine through. After Bourne’s girlfriend, Marie (Franka Potente), is killed in an assassination attempt on him, he burns all mementos of her so he can move on with his life. Well, almost all of them.

There’s one picture that he’s about to toss into the fire, but he looks at it, pauses, and decides to hold onto a piece of her in his heart. Damon, who has been married to Luciana Barroso since 2005, let his lovable, serial monogamist shine through. What a beautiful thing it was.

 

6. The time Matt Damon let the nose play in Ocean’s Thirteen

You could essentially add Linus Caldwell, Damon’s bumbling thief-in-training in the Ocean’s franchise, to this list and call it a day. Almost everything he does is a prime example of Damon’s offbeat charm. And yet, the moment that supersedes them all is when dear, misguided Linus decided an enormous prop nose would help sell a heist. As he stubbornly said in defense of the prop, “the nose plays.” Hey, Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin) fell for it, so who’s to say he was wrong?

 

7. The time Matt Damon went to see about a girl in Good Will Hunting

It’s only right that we start and end on the film that made Damon a household name. Will’s therapist/friend/father figure Sean McGuire (Robin Williams) regales him with a tale about skipping a Red Sox World Series game (not just any game, the one in which Carlton Fisk waved a home run fair). His reason? He had to “go see about a girl.”

Will initially scoffs at this, but finds true love in the form of Skyler (Minnie Driver), the Harvard girl he impressed in the bar. After initially telling Skyler he didn’t love her, Will decides to turn down a six-figure mathematics gig to drive across the country and tell her his true feelings. He leaves a note about it for Sean, telling him he, too, had to see about a girl. Sean can’t help but smile, even if the son of a bitch stole his line.