Matt Damon Reveals the One Scorsese Film He Calls Flawless
Matt Damon shares his admiration for Martin Scorsese’s iconic film Goodfellas, calling it the director’s most perfect work. He reflects on his own experience with Scorsese and the film’s enduring legacy in American cinema.
For most actors, landing a role in a Martin Scorsese film is a career-defining moment. While Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio have become regulars in Scorsese’s movies, Matt Damon has only worked with the legendary director once, starring in the 2006 crime drama The Departed. That film, featuring a powerhouse cast including DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, and Martin Sheen, is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong thriller Internal Affairs and dives deep into the world of Boston’s Winter Hill Gang, focusing on the tangled web of corruption and double lives.
Damon has spoken openly about Scorsese’s extraordinary talent and the director’s impressive streak of films throughout his career. Reflecting on Scorsese’s early and mid-career work, Damon highlighted a particular film that stands out above the rest. On The Bill Simmons Podcast, Damon said,
“Every time he does a movie – he does Mean Streets, then he does Taxi Driver and then Raging Bull, and it ’s like my God, amazing; he just on such a tear in that timeframe. Then it’s like, what could he possibly do, and he does Goodfellas. That movie is perfect. Everybody loves that movie. I think that’s his best film.”
Scorsese’s Masterpiece and Its Lasting Influence
Goodfellas, released in 1990, delivers a gritty, unfiltered look at organized crime, capturing both the seductive power and the harsh realities of the mob lifestyle. Scorsese’s direction is electric, marked by dynamic camera movements, a driving soundtrack, and a non-linear storyline that pulls viewers straight into the heart of the underworld.
The film’s impact on Scorsese’s career is undeniable. It features a stellar ensemble cast and explores the moral blindness that can come with loyalty to the wrong people. Damon continued,
“There’s just no question that 30 years later, that movie is what it is. So that’s why it’s not that worth getting twisted or out of shape about nominations because nobody’s going to remember if somebody backed into a nomination by campaigning really well. Like Ray Liotta didn’t get nominated. In 30 years, that’s not going to mean anything. It’s so damn good.”
Oscar Snubs and the Power of Legacy
Despite its critical acclaim, Goodfellas shocked many when Ray Liotta was overlooked for an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Henry Hill. Joe Pesci, however, did take home the award for Best Supporting Actor. Liotta’s absence from the nominations list remains a point of discussion among fans and critics alike.
Damon also compared his own experience in The Departed to the legacy of Goodfellas. While The Departed was a major success at the Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing, Damon admitted it couldn’t quite reach the heights of Scorsese’s earlier masterpiece.
“Common perception kind of caught up with his genius by that point, so The Departed, I’m very proud to have been in that movie, but it’s not one of Marty’s best movies,” Damon said. “[However], there was no way he was not going to win ‘Best Director’ by the Academy. It was cheapening the award at that point that he didn’t have one.”
Scorsese’s Enduring Impact on American Film
Damon went on to say,
“It was doing more damage to the Academy that he didn’t have one because it was so absurd after what he had done for American cinema he didn’t have one. But some movies are polarising, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
For Damon, the true measure of a film’s greatness isn’t in the awards it wins, but in the way it stands the test of time and continues to resonate with audiences decades later.