Why Does Matt Damon Even Bother Doing Movies That Aren’t ‘Bourne’?

Matt Damon will prove to be one of the finest actors of our generation, no doubt. He’s been known to do that thing where he commits so hard to a role that he either gains or loses a scary amount of weight. He’s shined in cameos and leading roles alike, become a legitimate producer in Hollywood, and racked up all kinds of awards. So why does this dude insist on wasting so much of his precious time?
There is no point in Matt Damon taking on any role where he is not playing Jason Bourne. No point. Waste of time, waste of money, waste of breath. Maybe I’m being just a tad facetious, but also…maybe I’m not.
Yes, it’s undeniable Damon is a fantastic actor. Good Will Hunting and The Informant! and Invictus and other films out of the the dozens he’s been in. Fine. But he is absolutely never better than Bourne. And that is based on the fact that when he is Jason Bourne, he’s not Matt Damon.

Jason Bourne is a character that can’t remember a lot of shit, like who he truly is and what he’s done and where he comes from and basically all the stuff you would explain when you’re making small talk at a party or on a date. He’d just have to give you that blank stare. While this is both frustrating and painful for Bourne, it’s entirely freeing for Damon and the performance he is able to bring to the screen.

When you look at Bourne, you are so wrapped up in trying to help him figure out his mystery, or intently watching him navigate a car chase through one of any various international metropolitan areas, or staring as he punches the living daylights out of some eastern European bad guy. You’re rooting for him and you’re enjoying his every move. You know what you’re not doing? Thinking about how he married a totally normal, beautiful bartender or made some shitty comments he was unqualified to make in an interview. The best part of Jason Bourne is that he has no idea who Ben Affleck even is, and if he did, he definitely would not give a fuck about that guy.
The writing and certainly the editing of the Bourne films help to keep you in the story at all times, but Damon’s acting is at the tippy top notch when he is portraying the badass amnesiac. Which works out really well for all of us, because he’s doing his best acting in the movies people want to see him in most. It looked like Damon was done with the Bourne trilogy after Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum. The studio even hoped we too fell under a spell of forgetfulness when they tried to do the Jeremy Renner spinoff, The Bourne Legacy. But because movie lovers could get enough of Bourne, they hounded Damon at airports and grocery stores and all the inconvenient places you could think of, and so he returned. No one’s yelling “We Bought a Zoo!” at this dude when he walks down the street, that’s for sure.

This is not to say he is not good in other films. Of course he is. But a lot of the movies he shines in, are the ones reminiscent to Bourne, such as The Adjustment Bureau, or Green Zone (where he worked with Bourne director Paul Greengrass, so, duh). And it should be noted that his authentic Boston accent made his character in The Departed that much more weasely. Plus, he’s quite enjoyable when he wanders over to the comedy side of things. How fun it is to see him all bumbly in the Oceans movies? His appearances on 30 Rock were nothing short of wonderful and his one episode of Will & Grace is one of the finest in the show’s entire history.
But this is a dude that takes a lot of shit if one of his films doesn’t blow up the box office the way Bourne reliably does. At this point, hasn’t even the Oscar-nominated The Martian been reduced to a poop joke? Also, why does this dude LOVE space so much? The Martian, Interstellar, Elysium all serve as excellent reminders that it is Bourne that keeps Damon down to Earth.
While we haven’t had a Damon-led Bourne since 2007’s Ultimatum, it might feel a little strange watching one of our most beloved cinematic franchises take on things like technology, security, surveillance and shootings. But there’s something comforting about knowing Bourne is present to save the day. He’s a hero that proves time and time again to be watchable because he’s dependable. He moves so swiftly through those action scenes, he runs just as well as Tom Cruise does on screen, and those flashbacks look so painful, anyone watching will consider choking down a few Advil in those moments.

In real life, Damon is 45 years old. How many more of these films does he have in him? It’s tough to say, but easy to hope that the answer is: a few more! He doesn’t have to be navigating those tricky car chases at an age where we should be taking his drivers license away. Because if there’s anything to learn from his co-star in this new installment, Tommy Lee Jones, it’s that severe under eye bags are no friend of the big screen (also, no woman with those eye bags would be allowed within a mile of a camera lens, fyi).
With the exception of fancy words like “Treadstone” and “Blackbriar”, the dialogue of the Bourne films is more than manageable, even though the shoots are probably no walk in the park, and certainly it is not easy to get so damn ripped every time he has to fall back into Bourne. But hopefully Damon will continue to do it while he can. At least a few more years? And then he get back to his beloved space movies.
[Where to watch The Bourne Identity]