Bobby and Matt

First thought on hearing Matt Damon might be playing Robert Kennedy in an upcoming movie:  We won’t be able to see Bobby for the movie star.

Second thought: Although…he did a terrific job in The Informant! of making you forget you were looking at Matt Damon the movie star.  He became that schlubby dope.

Third thought.  That’s true.  Except…that half the fun of watching The Informant! was suddenly remembering you were watching Matt Damon and saying to yourself, “Wow!  I can’t believe that’s Matt Damon!”  Then for a while the movie would be about watching Matt Damon the movie star not being Matt Damon the movie star.  So, in a way, you were always seeing the movie star instead of the character.

Fourth thought:  I guess so.  But how about  The Good Shepherd?  He was a very unmovie star gray in The Good Shepherd.  And don’t forget The Departed.  He was better than DiCaprio in The Departed at disappearing into his character and DiCaprio did a pretty good job himself of not being a movie star.

Fifth Thought:  Well, ok.  He might pull it off.  As long as he doesn’t try to use the same accent he used in The Depaaaahtid.

Sixth Thought:  And as long as they don’t cast Ben Affleck as Jack.

It could work.  Damon is more of a chameleon than stars as handsome as he is usually allow themselves to be.  He’s chosen his roles carefully so that he’s kept busy and kept up his reputation without solidifying a particular image of himself in the public’s mind, unless it’s as Jason Bourne, which has given him something to play off of in his other roles.  Even as Jason Bourne he’s is less Matt Damon the movie star than Clive Owen’s Clive Owen in The International, Shoot ‘Em Up, or Duplicity  or his Departed co-star Mark Wahlberg’s Mark Wahlberg in Max Payne and Shooter.  Avoiding goofy romantic comedies has also helped. 

If he does do the movie, he won’t be Bobby Kennedy the way Meryl Streep was Julia Child, but he won’t be Bobby Kennedy the way Gary Cooper was Lou Gehrig either, not that emulating the former would guarantee a great movie or that following the example of the latter would make for a lesser one.  Which would you rather see, a movie like Julie & Julia or one like Pride of the Yankees?

As important as Damon’s performance will be how the director and screenwriter approach the script and whether they decide to try to tell the whole story of Robert Kennedy from the baptismal font at St Aidan’s in Brookline to the hillside at Arlington or narrow the focus to a  single crucial period in Kennedy’s life.  The movie’s is being adapted from the biography by Evan Thomas, which I liked but its most original contribution to an understanding of who Bobby Kennedy was and what made him tick is in the chapters devoted to his teenage years.   As Thomas portrays him, the young Bobby was shy, insecure, religious, and devoted to his mother, all of which made him something of the odd Kennedy out among his brothers, including his baby brother Teddy.  But Jack spotted something in him and, while the eight year difference in their ages prevented them from being pals, Jack kept a closer, more watchful, and more admiring eye on Bobby than either their brother Joe or their father did.  That would be an interesting family dynamic to watch play out but of course Damon’s far too old for a college-aged Bobby.  So I expect flashbacks, but I hope that the script doesn’t try to cover more ground than the years between November 22, 1963 and June 5, 1968.

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Related Mannion re-runs:  The Informant! came out on DVD Tuesday.  I saw it in the theater last fall and reviewed it here in a post called Not going to inform on The Informant!

I didn’t review The Good Shepherd but I did post my Notes for a review that never did get written.

Comments

[actor212]

The nicest compliment I ever got as an actor was from an acquaintance: "I forgot that was you up there."

That's the standard I judge a performance by, if I need to gauge a quick reaction to a film.

Matt Damon in "Good Shepherd"? Nice job.

Matt Damon in "Good Will Hunting"? Um, no.

Matt Damon in "Saving Private Ryan"? Adequate.

Matt Damon in the Bourne Trilogy? Good in the second, lousy in the first, so-so in the third.

Et alia.

My suspicion is, if Damon gets a decent director (Scorsese seems to have a knack of getting good performances out of marginal actors, but the fact that he'll cast a Daniel Day-Lewis or a Robert DeNiro doesn't hurt), and as you point out, keeps Ben Affleck the hell off the set, he should be OK.

[Batocchio]

I enjoyed The Informant! I also sorta enjoy the Mannion thought process...

[Belvoir]

Ha, I love the Mannion thought process too.. it's why I keep coming back for another good read, he works out his musings on the page with intelligence and style, in a distinct "voice".

I remember when Good Will Hunting came out, the big hook for stories about Damon/Affleck was how they had slaved over the screenplay, and were passionate about getting the film made, indie style, integrity, not Hollywood. Since then, many many things have cast serious doubt as to whether they actually wrote GWH, rather convincingly. But it was a good hook for the press. People wondered why they didn't write another movie, then- choosing to aggressively pursue becoming movie stars instead was seen as a sell-out (yes, the internet existed in 1997). But it's hard to blame them: become a high-paid movie star adulated, or a lowly writer? A no-brainer. I like Damon: he was superb in Talented Mr. Ripley, I think.

That 90's indie/DIY film-making ethos he was keen on espousing seems a century ago though, long gone. And nothing wrong with that.