The Martian

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return. Based on a best-selling novel, and helmed by master director Ridley Scott, The Martian features a star studded cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Donald Glover.

Matt Damon has officially joined Tom Hanks and Will Smith as actors that can completely carry a movie by themselves.  Literally.  Just them on screen with scenery for the vast majority of the movie.  There was a huge cast in this and there were plenty of scenes where they were back on earth at Nasa with all of them.  But what really carried this movie were the parts where Matt Damon was all alone and trying to stay alive while awaiting his possible rescue.  Damon did an amazing job of portraying the desperation but also keeping it humorously light at times as well.  The ending of the movie got a little bit too fluffy and feel goodish for something that was so smart throughout the movie, but that really is the only knock that I can make against it.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It's a great movie both visually and acting/writing wise.  They manage to make a very sci-fi movie a big time mainstream hit.