The Martian: 10 Reasons Why It's Better Than Interstellar

2. Matt Damon

It is true that across the past several years we have entered the 'McConaissance'. The formally slurring Texan has gone from roles in mind-numbing 'chick-flicks' like Fool's Gold and Ghosts Of Girlfriend's Past to show-stopping, Oscar-clinching work in Dallas Buyers Club, and stunning everyone with the likes of Killer Joe, True Detective and more. Matthew McConaughey is a fantastic performer and his offerings in Interstellar are by far the film's strongest asset, but Matt Damon has been consistently excellent since the mid 1990s, and his role as Watney here simply crushes Cooper. Damon is similar to Tom Cruise in the sense that he is a proper 'movie star'; a charming, charismatic and approachable performer who can sell a film merely on his involvement, rather than the product itself, yet he is also a definitive and exceptional actor - a transporting and captivating screen presence who can burrow into a role and change colours like a chameleon. Just look at his work in films such as The Informant!, We Bought A Zoo and Behind The Candelabra as mere examples. His central performance here is so attention-grabbing and urgently charged, yet also distinctly human and sumptuously weighted. It blends the two art forms and celebrity identities with remarkable efficiency and consequently serves up one of the year's very best leading male screen turns. An Academy Award nomination would be wholly warranted.