FILM: "Honestly I'll talk about Godard next week..."

OK, I've got an admission to make, and it isn't easy for me to admit...

You see, well, errrm... ummm, I've sort of been on a Matt Damon movie binge recently - "I didn't mean to, honest! It just sorta happened!"

You got to understand that I've always taken pride in the fact that I thought he was a terrible actor. Mr. Damon was part of an elite club of movie stars who share the honour of being the recipients of my pathological hatred! Richard Geer, Catherine Zeta Jones, Matt Damon, Ben Afflick... They're all part of the club. And yet, and yet, I have always liked the "Talented Mr Ripley". It was the one chink in my armor, but I've always shrugged it off as an aberration, a one time fluke, never to be repeated. I could rest assured, safe in the smug satisfaction of my irrational hatred for the block-head chump.

And then the other day I rented "The Bourne Identity", and what happened? I enjoyed it. So I went out and rented the sequel, "The Bourne Supremacy", which is actually directed by a British director Paul Greengrass (who made an excellent dramatisation "Bloody Sunday"). Both are gripping no-nonsense thrillers, that actually have a modicum of intelligence and are character driven. The second has a bit more grit and better car chases (can't believe I just said that!). Neither is an outstanding movie, but they are enjoyable and I thought Matt (as I now like to call him) was excellent in both of them.

Feeling rather shocked by my revelation, I decided to see if this new found respect applied to his other films. So I rented "Rounders", a really enjoyable con-movie, and "Gerry" a sort of Beckett-does-Dude-Where's-My-Car, which although pretentious wasn't all that bad. In fact it was strangely hypnotic in places.

So there you go: I like Matt Damon.

And I ain't to proud to admit it.