Matt Dillon made his debut in the 1979 American coming-of-age crime drama film ‘Over the Edge’ directed by Jonathan Kaplan. The film opened to critical acclaim and gained a strong cult following in the subsequent years. He next appeared in the 1980 American family comedy-drama film ‘My Bodyguard’ where he played the role of ‘Melvin Moody.’ The film received positive reviews and was a major box office success, grossing over $22.5 million against a budget of $3 million. He went on to star in films like ‘Little Darlings’ (1980), ‘Tex’ (1982), ‘Liar's Moon’ (1982), ‘The Outsiders’ (1983), ‘Rumble Fish’ (1983), ‘The Flamingo Kid’ (1984), ‘Target’ (1985), ‘Native Son’ (1986), ‘The Big Town’ (1987), and ‘Kansas’ (1988).
In 1989, he starred as ‘Bob Hughes’ in the American crime drama film ‘Drugstore Cowboy’ directed by Gus Van Sant. The film opened to wide critical acclaim and earned a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Dillon also bagged the ‘Independent Spirit Award’ for his performance in the film. The following year, he appeared in the American erotic thriller film ‘A Kiss Before Dying’ where he played the role of ‘Jonathan Corliss.’ While the critics gave a lukewarm response to the film, they praised the performance of Dillon. He next appeared in films like ‘Singles’ (1992), ‘The Saint of Fort Washington’ (1993), ‘Mr. Wonderful’ (1993), ‘Golden Gate’ (1994), ‘To Die For’ (1995), ‘Frankie Starlight’ (1995), ‘Grace of My Heart’ (1996), ‘Beautiful Girls’ (1996), ‘In & Out’ (1997), ‘There's Something About Mary’ (1998), and ‘Wild Things’ (1998).
The year 2001 saw the release of the American neo-noir dark comedy film ‘One Night at McCool's’ where Dillon was seen playing the role of ‘Randy.’ The film was panned by critics and was a box office bomb. In 2002, he starred as ‘Jimmy’ in the American crime thriller film ‘City of Ghosts.’ The film marked the directorial debut of Dillon and received mixed reviews upon release. He starred as ‘Officer John Ryan’ in the 2004 crime drama film ‘Crash’ directed by Paul Haggis. The film opened to critical acclaim and was a major box office success, grossing over $98.4 million on a budget of $6.5 million. Dillon bagged the ‘Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award’ and ‘Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award’ for his performance in the film. The following year, he appeared in the American sports comedy film ‘Herbie: Fully Loaded.’ The film opened to a mixed reception and did decent business at the box office.
He continued to star in films such as ‘You, Me and Dupree’ (2006), ‘Nothing But the Truth’ (2008), ‘Old Dogs’ (2009), ‘Takers’ (2010), ‘Girl Most Likely’ (2012), ‘Pawn Shop Chronicles’ (2012), ‘Bad Country’ (2014), ‘Going in Style’ (2017), ‘The House That Jack Built’ (2018), ‘Proxima’ (2019), and ‘Capone’ (2020). He was last seen in the 2021 American comedy film ‘Land of Dreams’ directed by Shoja Azari. The film recieved a mixed response from critics. He is all set to appear in the upcoming American black comedy film ‘American Dreamer.’