The Evolution Of Matt Damon

Hereafter (2010)

Clint Eastwood's supernatural drama wasn't hugely well-received. It opens well enough, with an impressive recreation of the 2004 Thailand tsunami, before splitting into three separate narrative threads.

Damon plays a clairvoyant unable to deal with his gift. There a moments that suggest this could have been much better, and it comes with Eastwood's trademark sheen, but somehow it pulls of the unlikely feat of being too serious and too silly at the same time.

Brainiac Damon? His brain seems to be a little too powerful here.

True Grit (2010)

Thankfully, Damon redeemed his slow start to the year with an ace turn in the Coen brothers' western. As Texas Ranger La Boeuf, he plays it funny, but with admirably subtlety, ensuring that his character retains some dignity.

It's a credit to Damon's complete lack of vanity that he'll take a supporting role, and bury himself beneath period details, to the benefit of a great movie.

Brainiac Damon? He's a bit of a doofus, albeit a loveable one.

Inside Job (2010)

This week sees Damon narrating superior (and rather terrifying) documentary Inside Job , which investigates the global financial crisis with a wealth of insight and probing precision. Check out our review here .

Next up he'll be seen opposite Emily Blunt in sci-fi-tinged romance The Adjustment Bureau , and he's got Steven Soderbergh ensemble Contagion and Cameron Crowe's We Built a Zoo in the pipeline.

And after that, he's set to work with Soderbergh AGAIN on Liberace (with Michael Douglas in the lead), and he just might appear in Neill District 9 Blomkamp's Elysium . So, it doesn't look like he'll be taking it easy anytime soon...