I Like Matt Damon

I have mentioned once or twice before that I like Matt Damon. But, listen, it's not my fault that I'm a broken record: The guy keeps giving me reasons to like him.

One of the things I like about him a lot is the way he speaks about his family, his wife and three daughters. Speaking about them respectfully, movingly, and talking about how much he loves spending time with them, is a big teaspoon in a world in which men and fathers often speak about female partners and daughters as though they're a different species, or make "jokes" about the old ball-and-chain har har.

"I have come to judge good jobs and good directors by how my wife feels about them," Damon, 39, told guests at Tuesday's Museum of the Moving Image gala in New York City honoring Eastwood, 79. "And my wife loves Clint Eastwood."

..."Not only because her husband was happy everyday when he came home but because I got to do what I wanted to do and the way I wanted to do it," said Damon, who stars in Eastwood's Invictus (which, in Latin, means "unconquered"), due in theaters Dec. 11.

...Eastwood's quick turnaround filming schedule allowed Damon to spend daily quality family time with his wife and daughters, Alexia, 11, Isabella, 3, and Gia, 1.

"I had breakfast with [Luciana] and the kids every morning and dinner with them every night," says the proud dad. "I never thought I was sacrificing either family life or my work. It was perfect and that's the life that I hope I can crave out for myself as I go forward."

It shouldn't be notable to read about a famous man who regards his wife as his equal, and values her opinion, and their daughters as deserving of more respect than jokes about living on Venus. But it is.

It's also unusual to hear a man speak so frankly about how a great work environment translates into a happier home life, a subject generally considered the purview of working mothers.