TV • PAGE 27
THE BULLETIN • JANUARY 7 - 13, 2021
BY JAY BOBBIN
Matt Damon lands effectively in ‘The Martian’
In director Ridley Scott’s 2005 shot at sci-fi, “The Martian” (which FX shows Sunday, Jan. 10) actually is an
earthling ... and not just any earthling, but Matt Damon.
That stacks the deck a bit as the actor plays an astronaut stranded on Mars, since his past work makes it
fairly easy to guess that he’ll be resourceful enough to survive. It would take more than the angry red planet to
make Jason Bourne crumble, right?
Actually, “The Martian” is a pretty dazzling adventure based on Andy Weir’s novel and detailing how fellow
crew members who think Damon’s character died in a wild dust storm leave him behind, how he endures,
how others finally figure out he’s still alive, and how his rescue is mounted – against many odds that just keep
mounting.
After visiting space previously in such films as “Alien” and “Prometheus,” not to mention his other flights
into fantasy such as “Blade Runner,” director Scott proves it’s still a fine playground for him. Damon shows
he’s comfortable in the cosmos, too. He already had a basis in outer-space movies, given his appearance in the
previous year’s “Interstellar,” but “The Martian” is focused much more on him.
In fact, it almost could be considered a 50-years-later update of “Robinson Crusoe on Mars,” a classic that
was produced by genre veteran George Pal. Of course, that much more can be done technically now, but the
theme of “The Martian” largely is the same.
A solid supporting cast including Jessica
Chastain (also an “Interstellar” alum), Kate Mara,
Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean and
Kristen Wiig (not the most expected presence in
a sci-fi movie, but doing what she has to do as a
public-relations executive quite well) helps keep
the story grounded. That parade of performers
also does much to retain interest in the single-idea
story, which runs well over two hours, particularly
with television commercials added in.
The picture’s weight expectedly falls and stays
on Damon, however, and his character goes about
the business of surviving alien surroundings with
good cheer. Others might crumble a lot sooner
in those circumstances, but there still is a certain
movie-star image to protect here, and the film
services Damon quite well in that way.
For all of its many fantastical trappings, “The
Martian” ultimately is a very human story, and
its makers never lose sight of that. That’s why it
works.
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