Poll: What's Your Favorite Matt Damon Performance?

The Informant! just hit theaters last Friday. I've seen it, and thought the film itself was just okay. Matt Damon, on the other hand, is a riot. The talented Mr. Damon turns in a performance that's equal parts endearing and exasperating, and should be in line for an Oscar nomination this year.

He has another showing scheduled this winter, with a supporting role in Clint Eastwood's Invictus coming up. Who knows? Damon may be at the Kodak with two nominations next March.

So what's your favorite Matt Damon performance? Do you prefer his dramatic work or his comedy? Or are you most impressed by his action franchises? If you prefer him in a film not listed, tell us about it in the comments section. Cast your vote in the sidebar poll.

THE INFORMANT!

Based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald
Screenplay by Scott Z. Burns
Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Matt Damon
Scott Bakula
Melanie Lynskey
Joel McHale

Premiere date: September 7, 2009 (Venice Film Festival)
R for language.

What was Mark Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company's multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion. But before all that can happen, the FBI needs evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire and carry a hidden tape recorder in his briefcase, imagining himself as a kind of de facto secret agent.
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Unfortunately for the FBI, their lead witness hasn't been quite so forthcoming about helping himself to the corporate coffers. Whitacre's ever-changing account frustrates the agents and threatens the case against ADM as it becomes almost impossible to decipher what is real and what is the product of Whitacre's active imagination.

AWARDS INFO COMING WHEN AVAILABLE

Matt Damon's Oscar Prospects

Reviews for Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! are starting to trickle in from Venice. The consensus seems to be that it's good, not great, but boasts a wonderfully funny lead performance from Matt Damon.

The film centers on Mark Whitacre, an executive at an agriculture company who turns whistleblower to the FBI over a corporate price-fixing scam. The closer the feds get to putting away the bad guys, the more obvious Whitacre's own set of company misdealings becomes.

Empire has seen the film, and their review is full of praise for Damon's work:

"Most people agree, though, that the film is very much a triumph for Matt Damon, who really excels in the role of Mark Whitacre...it's to his credit that a role that could easily have been a one-dimensional caricature generates, in the final reel, a lot of sympathy, not only from us but from everyone he drags into the case."

Guy Lodge over at In Contention likes him too:

"Not unlike his otherwise wholly different turn in The Talented Mr. Ripley, [Damon] reveals the psychological cracks in the makeup of the American everyman so incrementally that you hardly notice until it’s too late. Aided by a deadpan comic fluidity the actor has never controlled so comfortably, it’s the finest work of his career."

Damon will probably be a nominee in this year's Best Actor race, with a supporting turn in Clint Eastwood's Invictus strengthening his body of work. If he's good enough there, he could join the club of actors nominated in two acting categories in the same year.

Damon is a great character actor who excels in comedy, drama, and action. I'd love to see him get some recognition.

September 2009

September is the month that the Oscar race officially begins. We have a slew of festivals coming up in the next couple of weeks (Telluride, Venice, Toronto) and when things calm down we'll have a much clearer view of where this awards season is headed.

Only a few contenders are making their way into the fray this month, however. September 18th will usher in Jane Campion's period romance Bright Star and the Steven Soderbergh corporate comedy The Informant! Both of which have picked up some buzz already.

We'll also see Jennifer's Body, a film that has no awards potential (Megan Fox seriously cannot act, and high school killer comedies are not AMPAS cuppa), but has a script by Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. I must admit I have an interest here. It's embarrassing, since I don't exactly expect the movie to be good, but I'm interested in Cody's Juno follow-up.

I was hoping we'd have heard good things about Coco Before Chanel, starring the lovely French actress Audrey Tautou (Amelie) as the fashion legend, but so far the response has been rather muted. Ah, well. There are always a few that disappoint.

This month will definitely be laying the foundation for the forthcoming Oscar season. What are you looking forward to seeing in September?

Speaking Of Matt Damon

Here's the trailer for The Informant! Directed by Steven Soderbergh and due in theaters September 18th. Looks like a good time.

Read the Book First

A list of some of the books that will bear those "now a major motion picture" stickers later this year. This isn't all of them, by any means. Just the ones I'm particularly interested in. If you're like me, and you like to have read the book before you see the film adaptation, check out a few of these titles in the coming months.

Cheri, by Collette. June 26th.

Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34, by Bryan Burrough. July 1st.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling. July 15th.

Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane. October 2nd.

The Informant, by Kurt Eichenwald. October 9th.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. October 16th.

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. October 16th.

Precious, based on the novel Push, by Sapphire. November 6th.

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold. December 11th.