Matt Dillon makes a man's self-satisfaction funny without asking us to like him. We value that willingness to leave the unpleasantness intact, though the writing around him is not always as resourceful as his performances.
Fi1m perspective
Matt Dillon lets Pat Healy advertise his own inadequacies. In There's Something About Mary (1998), he makes self-satisfaction funny without softening it into a lovable failing. Ben Stiller supplies the discomfort and Cameron Diaz the ease; Dillon gives the comedy someone whose confidence we can enjoy finding ridiculous. We laughed at Healy's vanity, and appreciated not being asked to forgive it.
The early career established him as a teen idol, with Dallas Winston in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders (1983) among the defining roles. Drugstore Cowboy (1989), in which he played drug addict Bob Hughes, brought the critical breakthrough into adult work. Playing comedy in There's Something About Mary did not require him to become a more reassuring presence. Healy belongs quite naturally among the seedy characters he is often asked to play.
That does not make every vehicle equally rewarding. In There's Something About Mary, the screenplay by Ed Decter, John J. Strauss and the Farrellys returns too often to male foolishness, and the performances supply more variety than the writing. Dillon's timing helps, but it cannot repair a slack middle or a romance that gives its men too much attention. We recommend the film for its cheerful indecency, with the caveat that some of those comic detours could use a firmer cut.
The later work has favoured independent films and ensembles over a steady run of mainstream leads. Dillon played Officer John Ryan in Crash (2004), then took the lead as Jack in The House That Jack Built (2018). Wes Anderson's Asteroid City (2023) gave him the Mechanic, another ensemble role. That is a useful reminder that there is no obligation to measure his work by the size of the part. We would rather see him given someone awkward to play than brought on simply to look familiar.
Biography
Matt Dillon is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in Over the Edge (1979) and rose to prominence in the early 1980s with roles in My Bodyguard (1980), Little Darlings (1980) and The Outsiders (1983).
Dillon has appeared in films including Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Singles (1992), There's Something About Mary (1998), Wild Things (1998) and Crash (2005), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He made his directorial debut with City of Ghosts (2002) and has also worked in television, including Wayward Pines (2015).
He is the brother of actor Kevin Dillon.
