Buttmunker

At one time, Matt Dillon made one popular movie after another, and most of them later became "cult classics." I know his career never ENDED, by the way - just a figure of speech.

Starting with Over The Edge, the string of hits included:

Little Darlings
My Bodyguard
Tex
The Outsiders
Rumble Fish
and
The Flamingo Kid

After that....hit or miss (mostly miss).

He was making great career decisions (or his agent was)...but then it stopped being idealistic for the young actor.

majorjoe23

I'd say he was pretty good through 1998, when he was in Something About Mary and Wild Things. From there it was mostly downhill. He was in Crash, which won Best Picture despite being horrible.

MrSmearkase

The 'string of hits' that you provided are all roles in which he played a teenager, no?

I honestly fail to see how it ever "ended".
Drugstore Cowboy
Singles
The Saint of Fort Washington
To Die For
Beautiful Girls
Grace of My Heart
In & Out
Wild Things
There's Something about Mary
Crash (For which he was nominated for an Oscar)
Factotum

Dr Mabuse

He was the best performance in 'Nothing But The Truth' IMO.

That was fairly recent.

riotinmyskull

+1

NoirFan

Did the OP create this thread in 1988?

joefrog91

Matt Dillon Rules!

Factotum was one of his best performances. It helps that I love Charles Bukowski's work.

Jaymole

I like Dillon's later career more than his earlier career, so I have no idea what the OP is talking about.

MrSmearkase

/\ I like One Night at McCoole's too. I didn't include it the list above, though, becuase I wasn't sure that many others enjoyed it.

riotinmyskull

count me in as another fan

toddly6666

I don't remember ever in my life saying "let's go to the movies and see the new Matt Dillon flick."

Groucho

I believe they did Gunsmoke TV movies well into the 1980's.

d2cheer

This.

Plus I hate these stupid threads asking when a performers "career" ended or "why" do they still have one. If they are still working it DID NOT END! Gene Hackmans career has ended, why? He retired. It ends if they can't get work or move onto something else. As long as they can make a living at it IMHO the so called quality of films has nothing to do with it. You can find fans of their work no matter if it was good or bad to you.

islandclaws

Of the countless number of actors working today, how many get you to a theater based on name alone? I see movies 99% of the time based off how good they look, not who's in them. I can't recall a time I've ever said "Let's go see the new (name) movie tonight".

Solid Snake

I'll admit..as a kid....probably Stallone or Arnold (this is the 90s...so yeah..not much good for them) got me into the theaters. As an adult....nobody. Directors, yes. As long as it looks interesting.

toddly6666

Besides wanted to see a film because the film looks good, I have also all the time gone to the theater based on actor alone. There are actors that I will see any of there movies such as:

Bale
Crowe
Gibson
Theron
Connelly
DeNiro
Cruise
Benini
Pacino
Depardieu
Mirren
Bellucci
Cassell
Denzel
Gerard Butler
Jason Stathom
Jolie
Keanu Reeves
Eastwood
Rudd/Rogan/Carrell
Sandler


and when I was younger:

Jackie Chan/Jet Li
Kurt Russell
Cage
Stallone
Willis
Arnold
Vin Diesel
Van Damme
Eddie Murphy
Jim Carrey
Robin Williams
Whoopie Goldberg
Christopher Lambert
Robert Redford
Kevin Costner
Chevy Chase
Tom Hanks
Bill Murray
John Candy

Ash Ketchum

Back in the day we used to follow John Wayne and Clint Eastwood pretty religiously. (Yes, we'd go see their movies on Sunday.)
And Pam Grier and Claudia Jennings.

BTW, Matt Dillon was pretty good in ARMORED, which had a brief release earlier this year. Not a good movie, though. Undone by a weak script. But he was good.

Numanoid

I avoided this thread for days because I didn't want to see a spoiler for Gunsmoke, which I've never watched.

matome

Yep, he was excellent in it, though the movie was certainly disappointing. What a waste of a great cast.

digidoh

When did it really end for MATT DILLON?

Right here. Bang!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3reHllOxCkM

Ropes Pierre

I heard Annabella Sciorra got him hooked on heroin.

Jack Straw

+2

I have enjoyed him in almost everything he's been in.

Jack Straw

That sounds so hot! I mean if you are going down that road anyway.

Buttmunker

Well, this is my point: not a good movie. What difference does it make if Dillon was good in it or not? If the movie stinks, nobody will see it.

My point was - when did it end for Matt Dillon being in box office hits/cult classics? He had a "comeback" in 1998 with There's Something About Mary, and almost everyone saw that.

Hokeyboy

Dillon did shitty movies too before his career "ended" (as you call it). And he had an Academy Award nomination in 2005. Several of the "hit" movies you listed were box office flops and/or critical disappointments. AND he was never a big box office draw to begin with.

This thread is hilarious!