Matt Damon

Interview By: Dan Portnoy
DanPortnoy@TheCinemaSource.com

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Matt Damon, how can you not like him' He's funny, personable and he's talented. The variety of roles he's taken over the years show that the actor is not one dimensional but rather versatile and damn good at it. The characters he's played have ranged from rouge CIA agent Jason Bourne to Loki the angel of death and more recently to the folkloric Wilhelm Grimm. The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. However, never before in Damon's films has he taken on the role of a father. He does in this year's Syriana, a film which has already put the scent of Oscar into the air.

In Syriana Damon plays Bryan Woodman, a determined go-getting oil broker, whose ambition supersedes his role as a father. The film deals with the global oil industry (how convenient) and the shady dealings, interactions and lives of both the wealthy and impoverished that take place 'behind the scenes.' As for Bryan, he tirelessly engulfs himself in his work which leads him to an unlikely association with Gulf prince Nasir Al-Subaai (Alexander Saddig). The story of Bryan Woodman is only one of four stories told within Syriana that are all, on some level, connected with one another. The multiple storylines allow the audience to gain perspective on the oil business and politics from all different angles of the system. Needless to say it's the kind of film that will get you talking.

If you weren't already aware, Matt Damon is the kind of actor who likes to research his roles and be conscious of the dialogue he delivers. For Syriana the research entailed the reading of a number of novels about the oil industry and its inner workings. 'Maybe there are actors who can just show up and say lines and not have any idea what they're talking about, but I'm not one of them, I have to be somewhat grounded in what I'm talking about.' Surprising as it may be, research is essential in order to make an actor's performance that much more genuine. In addition to that, one is able to learn a great deal more than they would by just, for lack of a better saying, 'shooting from the hip.'

When I first saw the trailer for Syriana, it got me thinking not only about how much I hate the ludicrous gas prices, but about how pertinent this film is to our country's present situation. 'When you make a movie that is kind of a conversation starter, I hope the reaction will be 'thank God we've been waiting for this.' I know I've been waiting for a film like this, primarily to openly vent my opinions and frustration but also because I'm tired of movies that dumb things down for the audience and pull their punches in fear of being considered too raw and audience unfriendly. 'My hope is that people will really like that, that people have been really missing movies like that. There's a lot of pressure on people who make movies to not make them confusing because you have two hours to tell a story and the story costs X amount of dollars and you want the maximum number of people to see it. The problem with that is that you get movies that are just so stupid.' Exactly what many people are thinking but are just not saying. And as you can see, Damon doesn't like to sugar coat anything either.

If people are worried about complexity, they'll be happy to know that the story that centers itself around Damon's character is one of the easiest to follow. 'You got four storylines going and so mine is the most emotional from the outset because of what happens. So in that sense it's the least complicated of the four stories. It's very easy for the audience to follow what's going on with the Bryan Woodman story.' And what happens you ask that makes his story so easy to keep up with' Well I'm afraid you'll just have to go see the movie and find that out for yourself.

Syriana also marks the fourth time Damon and his pal George Clooney team up together. The first three films were Oceans Eleven, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Oceans Twelve. Clooney, hot off his second directorial project Good Night, and Good Luck, had to put on some weight for his role in Syriana. But like most actors and actresses, they are able to take it off by what can only be described as some sort of magic. Of course it's not magic, but I and many others would like to know how. 'There's no secret, it's just really hard work. The reality is, celebrities are sometimes afforded the privilege of doing nothing but losing weight. If you had all day and all you had to do was lose weight, you'd work out two or three times, you'd watch very carefully what you eat, and you lose weight.' There, folks, is the key to your dieting success, although don't go quitting your jobs just yet because you probably don't have an acting career to fall back on.

What do these four films have in common; The Bourne Ultimatum, The Good Shepard, Margaret, and The Departed' Give up' They are all upcoming films that Damon is working on, three of which happen to be set for a 2006 release. But until then we have Syriana, a film that will be debated over long after it leaves the theaters. To those who are skeptical about the film's message and resolution, I leave you with these words from Matt Damon. 'Hopefully if people go see the movie, it's the type of movie that they'll go with some one, go grab a drink afterwards and talk it through. It's not meant to give you answers.'